Companies selling illegal weight loss drugs are garnering positive Trustpilot reviews as critics say regulatory gaps allow high-risk operators to appear trustworthy.
The Guardian’s investigation found that Rettrutide UK had a score of 4.4 on a global review site, despite it offering a drug that is unlicensed and illegal to sell or buy. Its website sells a 20mg retatrutide pen for £132.
This is one of many operators promoting themselves on review websites to appear legitimate. Academics have said the findings are worrying, highlighting how easy it is for people to be drawn into unregulated markets.
A reviewer for Rettrutide UK on Trustpilot wrote: “So far so good. My pen arrived quickly and…lost the first few pounds and still feel good with it. Would recommend.” The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Retatrutide, which has not yet completed clinical trials, is an experimental injection developed by US drugmaker Eli Lilly that targets three gut hormones: GLP-1, GIP and glucagon.
Early studies suggest it can help patients lose up to a quarter of their body weight, leading to it being hailed online as the next Ozempic. Ozempic is not licensed as a weight loss medicine in the UK.
However, purchasing retretutide illegally carries serious risks. Because the drug is still experimental, products sold online or through unofficial channels are unregulated and may not contain the correct ingredients or dosage and may not be sterilized to the correct standard.
Contaminated or incorrectly injected hormones can cause infections, dangerous blood sugar crashes, pancreatitis and cardiovascular side effects. Using incomplete clinical-trial medication outside legitimate medical settings is unsafe and potentially life-threatening.
Alluvi Health Care, the company at the center of a recent weight loss drug raid by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, is also reviewed on Trustpilot. The MHRA and police raided an illegal facility manufacturing and distributing unlicensed products bearing the label produced by Alluvi in October.
The company nevertheless received a 3.5 TrustPilot rating, with an AI-generated summary stating: “Customers are generally satisfied with the company’s products, order processing and delivery service.” Alluvi Health Care did not respond to a request for comment.
Another vendor operating under the name Retatide claims to be “powered by Retatide, a cutting-edge triple-action peptide formula”. It tells customers that “people are switching to daily after stopping on Monzaro or tirazepide”.
Its Trustpilot page gives it a 4.6 rating with plenty of five-star reviews. Contacted by the Guardian, the seller said it had “parted ways with Retatide.com and Retatrutide several months ago”.
A separate site, Rettrutide Pains, had a 4.7-star Trustpilot rating, but displayed an “immediate closure notice” on its webpage. Trustpilot’s algorithm provided an upbeat overview, stating that customers “had a great experience” while praising the product’s discreet packaging.
It comes as TikTok accounts offer Black Friday deals on Rettrutide and similar drugs. One company posted: “Yes… it’s happening” with a banner advertising “20% off + free next day delivery”, using hashtags like “ratatouille” – code for ratatutide – and “tirzepatide”. Another account advertised “Reta 40mg” at 25% discount.
According to a TikTok spokesperson, trading and marketing of high-risk goods and services is not allowed. He said it had banned the hashtags #retatrutide and #reta, and would continue to remove content that violates the guidelines.
Emily Rickard, from the University of Bath, who researches the political economy of the pharmaceutical industry, said: “In our research we consistently uncover breaches of advertising rules in regulated online weight-loss services, which shows how weak existing safeguards are even around officially approved products.
“Against that backdrop, the prevalence of illicit sellers offering unlicensed medicines like retreutide – and presenting themselves as legitimate through TrustPilot reviews – is particularly worrying and dangerous. It shows how people can be drawn into unsafe, unregulated markets within just a few clicks.”
Piotr Ozieranski, a reader in sociology at Bath, said: “Regulators should move towards proactively investigating suspected unethical practices and use administrative fines linked to a company’s turnover or market share.
“Currently, it feels like the worst that can happen is for a company to get a slap on the wrist and leave the public often unprotected.”
Chris Emmis, co-founder of verification firm QuickChecks, said: “Rogue and criminal operators rely on social media and supposedly ‘trusted’ online reviews to induce consumers to purchase these products. Urgent action is needed.”
Trustpilot has since taken action to block all businesses highlighted in the Guardian’s investigation. It states that it is an “open review platform, meaning anyone can create a profile and submit reviews for any business”, but that it removes and blocks businesses that do not conform to its ethical standards.
A spokesperson said: “Like other abuses such as review fabrication, bad actors are constantly evolving their tactics in an effort to circumvent our detection. As with other high-risk industries, we continue to investigate companies selling drug-related products and evolve our processes to protect the integrity of the platform.”
An MHRA spokesperson said: “Public safety is the number one priority for the MHRA, and its criminal enforcement unit works hard to prevent, detect and investigate illegal activity involving medicines and medical devices and takes strong enforcement action where necessary.”
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