Fake versions of highly sought-after weight-loss jabs are being sold illegally on social media, an investigation has found.
Retatrutide, seen as the ‘King Kong’ of weight-loss drugs, works twice as fast as existing drugs to help people lose weight, according to early studies.
The drug is being developed by Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant behind Mounjaro, but Retatrutide is still in clinical trials and has not yet been licensed for use anywhere in the world.
Yet on major social platforms such as Facebook and TikTok, people are selling weight-loss injections they claim are Retatrutide.
An investigation by Channel 4 News exposed how easily an undercover reporter was able to buy and collect a fake version of the drug.
When pushed by the reporter, the seller falsely claimed the injections were obtained from a pharmacy and are available on the NHS. The reporter was also given “conflicting” instructions about how many times she should use the jabs per week.
The investigation found that two companies were selling fake or illicit versions of weight-loss drugs. Eli Lilly said it is taking action against the companies. The Independent has contacted both for comment.
Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace, a former Big Brother housemate, said she lost vision in one eye after she took a copy of a weight-loss drug she bought on TikTok.
When she received her package containing the jabs, she said it had “no guidance, no instructions”.
She told Channel 4: “There were bags of vomit just lined up by my bed. I couldn’t make it to the toilet. It was just literally the worst time of my life physically. My vision had gone in one eye. I thought, that’s it. I’m either gonna die or I’m gonna be blind. It was just torture.”
When shown one of the illegal jab packages, Dr Nancy Allen, an NHS GP who prescribes licensed weight-loss medications, said she had never seen it before, and expressed “serious concerns” about patient safety.
Sales of fat-fighting jabs Mounjaro and Wegovy reached 2.5 million in July, seven times more than the same period last year, according to figures seen by The Telegraph.
The Ozempic-style drugs are set to be made widely available on the NHS under plans drafted by Wes Streeting, but they are currently rare on a free prescription and many people are choosing to go private.
The popularity of the jabs has soared over the past year as they are increasingly being used to tackle obesity. Around 4 per cent of households in the UK currently use them.
Following the investigation, both TikTok and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, removed the content.
Meta added that it is “constantly working to get better at detection”.
TikTok has also banned associated hashtags and search suggestions, and pointed to its community guidelines, which it said “are clear that we don’t allow trading, marketing, or providing access to regulated, prohibited, or high-risk goods and services”. It added: “This includes regulated substances such as products marketed for weight loss or muscle gain.”
A statement from Eli Lilly said: “Retatrutide is an investigational molecule that is legally available only to participants in Lilly’s clinical trials. Anyone purporting to sell Retatrutide for human use is breaking the law, and no one should consider taking anything claiming to be retatrutide outside of a Lilly-sponsored clinical trial.”
The programme, called Inside the black market for illegal weight-loss jabs, aired on Channel 4 News on Wednesday night.
