The scale of harm linked to unapproved peptide use has been laid bare, with new figures revealing a sharp uptick in patients presenting to EDs in NSW after injecting peptides.
There were 1180 ED presentations associated with the products between 1 July 2025 and September 2026 for adverse reactions including anaphylaxis, a NSW Health report released today showed.
Monthly presentations had increased from just five in July last year to more than 217 in September 2026, the health department said, with presentations previously “very rare”.
Of the 1180 cases, 833 mentioned ‘retatrutide’ — the weight loss drug that is not currently approved for prescription or purchase outside of a clinical trial, while 445 mentioned the generic term ‘peptide’ or other names of unapproved peptides, and 98 mentioned both.