Two deaths reported to FDA are linked to bootleg retatrutide; cause unverified

Mixed · 2The Food and Drug Administration received reports that two people died after taking bootleg versions of retatrutide, an experimental weight-loss drug being developed by Eli Lilly that the FDA has not approved, according to documents reviewed by CBS News. 1 2 Mixed · 2Both outlets say the cases appear to be the first public accounts in the US of unauthorised use of retatrutide, or products claiming to contain it, playing a role in a death; CBS adds that the details aren't verified and it is unclear whether the drug was to blame. 1 2 Mixed · 2The first death was reported in July: a healthcare professional told the FDA that a 41-year-old woman with obesity went into cardiac arrest. The report lists retatrutide as a "suspect product" and says she obtained it "from an unreliable source." 1 2

Left · 1CBS adds that the woman was taken to hospital with a dangerously fast heartbeat and died after resuscitation failed; the reporter described her as "otherwise healthy" apart from obesity and noted she was drinking kava at the time. 1 Mixed · 2In September the FDA received a report that a 49-year-old patient died after a licensed nurse "convinced" her to buy retatrutide from an online peptide vendor; she experienced severe dehydration, malnutrition and cardiac arrest. 1 2 Mixed · 2An image in that report shows a vial labelled "AlphaLabs", a company whose website offers peptides for "research use only". 1 2

Left · 1CBS reports that when contacted, the company's owner, Joseph Samara, initially said "we don't sell retatrutide" and hung up. His attorney, Sinead Killeen, later said the redacted report lacked enough information to know whether Alpha Labs sold the product, that the vial image "does not match the company's current packaging", and that the company had not been contacted by the FDA. 1 Left · 1Killeen also said a licensed healthcare professional should never recommend research-use-only products to a patient, and that the company would support a review by the authority that licensed the nurse. 1 Mixed · 2The FDA declined to say whether it verified the information, saying it reviews adverse event reports, gathering additional information when needed, and "generally does not discuss potential or ongoing compliance matters." 1 2

Mixed · 2Pieter Cohen, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said the FDA should try to obtain and analyse the actual drug the patients injected, and that it would be "deeply concerning" if the agency is not aggressively investigating. 1 2 Left · 1Eli Lilly said the reports "make clear the two individuals were taking black-market retatrutide", that it has found suspect products with the wrong amount of, or wrong, active ingredient and contaminants, and that it is taking legal action against sellers of bootleg versions. The reports aren't tied to a formal clinical trial, according to the documents and Lilly. 1 Mixed · 2America's Poison Centers logged 862 exposures to retatrutide in the three months ending in September, up from 460 in the prior three months and 249 in the first three months of 2026; CBS notes such rises are common for a newly monitored drug. The New York Post cites Public Citizen as saying at least 14 people have been hospitalised after taking gray-market versions. 1 2

Right · 1Context: retatrutide targets three receptors (GLP-1, GIP and glucagon) and in trials produced weight loss of up to 28% over 80 weeks, according to the Post. Lilly plans to submit it for FDA approval in early 2027, and review could take up to a year. The Post notes independent labs failed to identify any retatrutide in some products sold in shops. 2