Two deaths were reported to the FDA. Is the bootleg weight-loss drug “Reta” to blame?

October 13, 2026 / 6:00 AM EDT / CBS News

The Food and Drug Administration received reports in recent months that two people died after taking bootleg versions of an experimental weight-loss drug, according to documents reviewed by CBS News.

The reports link the deaths to products claiming to be retatrutide, a drug being developed by Eli Lilly that hasn't been approved by the FDA. Federal law prohibits the commercial sale of unapproved drugs, but that hasn't stopped vendors from selling imitation versions of the experimental drug online at a scale with no modern precedent.

The cases appear to be the first public accounts in the U.S. alleging that unauthorized use of retatrutide — or products claiming to contain it — played a role in a patient's death, though the details aren't verified and it is unclear whether the drug was to blame.

The first death reportedly occurred in July, when a healthcare professional informed the FDA that a 41-year-old woman with obesity went into cardiac arrest. The report lists retatrutide as a "suspect product," noting the woman had obtained it "from an unreliable source."

Then in September, the FDA received a report that a 49-year-old patient died after a…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/