Hospitalizations, Enforcement Gaps, Influencers Tied to Unapproved Retatrutide Products
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed a dangerous market for retatrutide — an unapproved weight loss drug — to expand unchecked, even as at least 14 people have been reported hospitalized related to its use, according to a Public Citizen investigation released today.
The report, “The Miracle Drug and the “Peptide Craze” Breaking the FDA,” documents a sprawling unregulated market: dozens of companies selling an unapproved peptide online while celebrity influencers with millions of followers openly promote self-injection — all with the tacit acceptance of FDA leadership under U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“The era of snake oil and quack medicine is back,” said Peter Whoriskey, Health Research Group research director for Public Citizen and author of the report.
“People are injecting themselves with an unapproved product with no physician oversight, no quality controls, and little certainty about what’s in the vials. If Kennedy’s embrace of peptides and social media remedies goes unanswered, regulators will have handed the wellness industry a roadmap: flood the market, build an audience, and wait out enforcement.”
Although Eli Lilly is developing the peptide retatrutide as a drug for weight loss, the FDA has not approved retatrutide for human use outside of clinical trials. The purity and strength of the unauthorized versions reaching the U.S. from producers overseas varies widely. So far, there is little sign that the FDA is moving forward with any tougher sanctions to curb the vast, illegal retatrutide market.
Public Citizen found that since 2024 the FDA has sent 14 warning letters to companies selling retatrutide. As of May 2026, 11 of those companies were still advertising retatrutide or other unapproved peptide drugs, and eight continued to sell retatrutide itself. As of June 2026, there have been 14 reported hospitalizations connected to retatrutide, according to the FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System.
The companies claim that their retatrutide products are for research use only and not for human or animal consumption. But hundreds of social media influencers function as sales affiliates for the companies, instructing their followers how and why to inject themselves with the drug — and providing links to the sellers’ websites. Among the most prominent of the influencers is Braden Peters, known online as Clavicular, a Gen Z “looksmaxxing” figure with more than two million followers across social media platforms. In online videos, Peters is shown injecting himself and promoting a peptide supplier.
Kennedy has expressed skepticism of federal laws forbidding the sale and marketing of unapproved drugs. He is an advocate of peptides and argues that the FDA should end the war on peptides, as well as other substances that are either not FDA approved or not approved for the purposes he advocates.