A patient whose oesophagus was torn after taking a counterfeit version of experimental weight loss drug retatrutide has prompted Australia’s medicines regulator to warn about the serious risks of such products, reports The Guardian.
Retatrutide has not been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) or regulators overseas, and it cannot be legally prescribed or sold in Australia.
Peptides are strings of molecules – amino acids – that act as chemical messengers in the body, and are involved in a range of functions like hormone activity, digestion, immune defence and tissue growth. The peptides in retatrutide mimic hunger hormones.
Despite being unapproved, the drug has been widely promoted on social media and promoted for sale on the hidden market, with names including retatrutide, Reta, R-10 and R-20.
The TGA was alerted after a patient experienced such severe and uncontrollable vomiting – after taking what was believed to be retatrutide – that it resulted in a torn oesophagus, which can be life-threatening, and required hospital treatment.
The TGA obtained a sample of the product and found it contained a different peptide – semaglutide – and no retatrutide. The amount of semaglutide detected was eight times higher than levels found in approved semaglutide products assessed by the TGA.
The agency’s chief medical adviser, Professor Robyn Langham, warned that products being sold online could be fake or counterfeit and contain ingredients that pose serious health risks.
“These risks are particularly concerning for injectable products, where contaminated or non-sterile manufacturing can increase the risk of infection and harmful immune responses including anaphylaxis.”
The Victorian health department issued a similar warning in June, after it was notified of six cases of acute liver toxicity associated with products labelled as retatrutide.
Australia’s chief medical officer has previously issued a public health warning about unapproved and non-prescribed peptides, after reports of serious adverse effects including liver damage, inflammation and severe allergic reactions.
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