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January 23, 2026 \u2014 11:30am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Australians are buying an unapproved weight-loss drug from suppliers whose websites list the product as \u201cfor research use only\u201d or \u201cnot for human consumption,\u201d but sell by the milligram and ship it to residential addresses.<\/p>\n Retatrutide has been hailed the king of peptides<\/a> by fitness influencers, and its pharmaceutical maker hopes it\u2019ll be the new Mounjaro, but there is a very good reason the drug can\u2019t be legally sold anywhere in the world: its safety and effectiveness are still being tested, and people injecting potentially dangerous knock-offs are risking serious side effects.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a serious problem,\u201d said Dr Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist and toxicologist at the University of Adelaide. \u201cRetatrutide is still experimental. We don\u2019t know the length and frequency of side effects \u2026 that the problems with the stuff people are buying online are multifold.\u201d<\/p>\n Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (maker of Mounjaro) is running phase 3 clinical trials<\/a> of the synthetic peptide, which has not been approved by any regulator globally.<\/p>\n Related Article But on TikTok, Australian fitness influencers tout the benefits of \u201cret\u201d with how-to guides, dosage recommendations and injecting advice, despite it being unlawful to advertise unregistered therapeutic goods.<\/p>\n Local distributors court customers in the comments, and users post unboxing videos of their vials of retatrutide powder arriving at their residential addresses.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it says on the disclaimer \u2018not for human consumption\u2019,\u201d one TikTok user commented in response to a link for a website selling retatrutide and other peptides.<\/p>\n \u201c[W]ho do you think they\u2019re selling to? People that [sic] have laboratories in their house or something?\u201d<\/p>\n A Lilly spokeswoman said: \u201cNo one can legally sell it for human use.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCounterfeit and black-market products are untested, unregulated and potentially dangerous \u2014 in some cases, deadly,\u201d the spokeswoman said in a statement. \u201cThese products are not purified to pharmaceutical-grade levels and often come from illicit, unregulated foreign suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n A pharmacist in Sydney\u2019s south recalled a customer who wanted to buy bacteriostatic water \u2013 sterile water used to reconstitute medicines \u2013 to inject his retatrutide.<\/p>\n Another customer asked to purchase 500 insulin syringes, which have a needle length ideal for injecting substances subcutaneously (under the skin) \u2013 the type used to inject peptides, just as retatrutide.<\/p>\n Its appeal extends beyond the peptides trend in the fitness and bodybuilding industries largely due to the mainstream popularity of GLP1 agonist weight loss drugs<\/a> like Ozempic.<\/p>\n The synthetic peptide is a \u201ctriple hormone receptor\u201d, engineered not only to activate the body\u2019s GLP1 receptors but also two other receptors (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and glucagon) involved in controlling insulin secretion, glucose uptake and energy expenditure, as well as decreasing gastric emptying and appetite.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got this triple whammy,\u201d Musgrave said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen some papers saying it\u2019s gamechanger for controlling type 2 diabetes and as a potential weight loss drug.<\/p>\n \u201cBut like all drugs, it can have potential side effects,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is entirely possible retatrutide will have the same side effects as other GLP1s, which are rare but serious. For example, the stomach can stop emptying completely, pancreatitis, or bowel obstructions.\u201d<\/p>\n There have also been reports of study participants losing too much weight too fast, \u201cwhich can cause potentially dangerous complications and has to be carefully monitored\u201d, Musgrave said.<\/p>\n The retatrutide people are buying online, with no assurances of its purity, poses even greater risks, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a string of amino acids and folds up in a very particular three-dimensional shape \u2013 like a key for the lock of the receptor. But if you\u2019re not careful, it may fold up incorrectly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt may form clumps, which, when you inject it, can lead to highly undesirable immune responses, [such as] anaphylactic reactions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Some suppliers may be selling \u201cgenuine research articles\u201d, Musgrave said, \u201cbut that\u2019s for squirting on cells or putting them into enzyme preparations, which is not the same as being sterile and sufficiently pure for human use.\u201d<\/p>\n The US Food and Drug Administration warned<\/a> that companies have been illegally selling retatrutide falsely labelled \u201cfor research purposes\u201d or \u201cnot for human consumption\u201d directly to consumers for human use with dosing instructions.<\/p>\n Related Article TikTok has banned searches for \u201cretatrutide\u201d, and removes content that it finds violates its guidelines, but the testimonials and instructional videos still flourish.<\/p>\n The Therapeutic Goods Administration said it had requested the removal of more than 13,700 unlawful advertisements from digital platforms in the 2024-2025 financial year. The regulator did not indicate how many were for retatrutide or peptides.<\/p>\n \u201cRetatrutide would not be high on the list of illegal substances customs [authorities] are looking for,\u201d Musgrave said, \u201cand the problem is nobody is really looking at this in any detail\u201d.<\/p>\n Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox<\/a> every Monday.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Clinical](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0c9ecf7b276ee0cef62c13a2f8770c562eda1f7f566b0abadceab06565112e97.jpeg\")
Clinical trial results for retatrutide look promising, but untested counterfeits have flourished online. Marija Ercegovac<\/p>\n![\"Ozempic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/d313a6ee2a76b60e61ab051d5c29bbb112ff5f7f.jpeg\")
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