Companies engaged in the illegal sale of unapproved weight-loss medications in the UK are successfully accumulating positive ratings on the review platform Trustpilot, raising alarms among experts about gaps in online regulatory oversight that allow high-risk operators to appear credible. An investigation by The Guardian revealed that one such firm, Retatrutide UK, maintained a score of 4.4 on the global review site despite purportedly offering a drug that is currently unlicensed and illegal to buy or sell. The company's website advertises a 20mg retatrutide pen for £132. This firm is one of several operators leveraging the review platform to project a sense of legitimacy. Academics describe these findings as highly disturbing, as they demonstrate the ease with which consumers are drawn into unsafe, unregulated markets, reports The WP Times with reference to The Guardian.
Retatrutide itself is an experimental injection developed by the US drugmaker Eli Lilly and has not yet completed clinical trials. It targets three specific gut hormones—GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon—with early studies indicating potential for patients to lose up to a quarter of their body weight. This promising, though unfinished, drug is already being hailed online as a successor to Ozempic, which is notably not licensed for weight loss in the UK. One satisfied Trustpilot reviewer of Retatrutide UK wrote: “So far so good. My pen arrived quickly and … First few pounds off and still feeling well with it. Would recommend.” The company did not respond to the request for comment.
Acquiring Retatrutide through illegal channels poses severe health risks. Since the product is still experimental, items sold online or through unofficial vendors are completely unregulated, meaning they may lack the correct ingredients or dosage and might not be sterilized to the necessary medical standard. Injectable hormones that are contaminated or incorrectly dosed can lead to serious complications, including infections, dangerous blood sugar crashes, pancreatitis, and severe cardiovascular side effects. Using an unfinished clinical-trial drug outside a legitimate medical setting is inherently unsafe and potentially life-threatening.
Another company, Alluvi Health Care, was the subject of a recent raid by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and police, which targeted an illicit facility manufacturing and distributing unlicensed products falsely labelled as being produced by Alluvi. Despite this serious criminal enforcement action, Alluvi Health Care still held a 3.5 Trustpilot rating, accompanied by an AI-generated summary that stated: “Customers are generally satisfied with the company’s products, order processing and delivery service.” Alluvi Health Care also declined to comment.
Furthermore, a seller operating under the name Retatide claims to be "powered by retatrutide, a cutting-edge triple-action peptide formula" and encourages customers to switch after "stalling on Mounjaro or Tirzepatide." Its Trustpilot page boasted a 4.6 rating with numerous five-star reviews. When contacted, the seller stated they had "disengaged from Retatide.com and Retatrutide … several months ago." A separate site, Retatrutide Pens, also displayed a high 4.7 Trustpilot rating, although its webpage showed an "immediate closure notice."
These dubious activities are paralleled on platforms like TikTok, where accounts were promoting Black Friday deals on retatrutide and similar drugs, using hashtags like “ratatouille”—a code word for retatrutide—to advertise "20% off + free next day" delivery. A TikTok spokesperson confirmed that the trading and marketing of high-risk goods and services is against their policy, adding that they have banned the hashtags #retatrutide and #reta, and would continue to remove content that violates guidelines.
Emily Rickard, from the University of Bath, highlighted that their research "consistently uncover[s] advertising rule breaches across regulated online weight-loss services," demonstrating weak existing safeguards. Piotr Ozieranski, a reader in sociology at Bath, suggested regulators should proactively launch investigations and implement administrative fines linked to company turnover, arguing that currently, "the worst that can happen is that a company gets a slap on the wrist." Chris Emmis, co-founder of the verification firm KwikChex, stressed that "Rogue and criminal operators rely on social media and supposedly ‘trusted’ online reviews," demanding urgent action. Trustpilot has since stated it has taken steps to block all businesses flagged in the investigation, noting that it continuously evolves its processes to protect the platform's integrity against misuse.
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