After seeing glowing results about peptides from folks online, Megan Hancocks decided to try a black-market peptide herself to shed some pounds.
asserted
Hancocks → see → pounds
“I was quite small looking back now, but obviously your mind tells you otherwise,” the 32-year-old told Australia’s ABC News.
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old → look → News
Her decision led to acute liver failure within days, and six months later — despite some recovery — her life has been radically changed.
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life → lead → recovery
As a result of her injuries, she’s been unable to work and moved in with her mom as she continues to reel from side effects.
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she → work → effects
Now, Hancocks is speaking out to warn others against taking bootleg versions of an unapproved drug.
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Hancocks → speak → drug
Megan’s story
Hancocks was introduced online to a peptide labeled as retatrutide, ABC reported.
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ABC → introduce → retatrutide
The real retatrutide is still undergoing clinical trials in the US and hasn’t hit the market — any product sold online is a knockoff of uncertain purity, safety and efficacy.
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product → undergo → purity
Often, peptides ranging from the from growth booster sermorelin to the collagen amplifier GHK-Cu are sold online as “research-grade.”
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peptides → range → grade
They skirt US regulations by carrying a disclaimer stating they’re not for human consumption.
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they → skirt → consumption
In Australia, Hancocks had a hard time getting it.
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Hancocks → have → it
However, during a beauty appointment late last year, her clinician offered her peptides from a Chinese manufacturer — available for purchase in cash.
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clinician → offer → cash
She bought a vial of retatrutide as well as GHK-Cu, though she didn’t end up taking the latter.
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she → buy → latter
According to ABC, she hesitated before using the retatrutide because she wasn’t sure about the dosage and was proceeding without a doctor’s advice.
uncertain
she → accord → advice
On December 24, she took her first dose, followed by another on December 28.
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she → take → December
Within a week, she was admitted to the hospital with acute liver failure.
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she → admit → failure
She had extreme jaundice — a yellowish discoloration of the skin and whites of eyes that occurs when the liver stops effectively processing a yellow pigment called bilirubin — plus constant nausea, vomiting, constipation, stomach swelling and fatigue.
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liver → have → pigment
Hancocks was in the hospital for about a month, where she recovered enough to avoid a liver transplant.
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she → recover → transplant
Six months later, she’s been hospitalized multiple times and remains on medication for liver repair.
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she → hospitalize → repair
She was forced to stop working and live with her mother, while her treatment has caused weight gain, hair loss and sores on her skin.
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treatment → force → skin
“When I look in the mirror I don’t see the same person anymore and that’s been really hard,” she said.
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she → look → person
It’s hard to overstate the buzz surrounding retatrutide, known as “reta” in peptide aficionado circles.
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It → ’ → circles
While the drug nears its final steps before hitting the market, people are dying to get their hands on any form of it.
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people → near → it
Two people have reportedly died in the US from taking knock-off versions of reta.
uncertain
people → die → reta
The first, a 41-year-old, suffered cardiac arrest, and the second, a 49-year-old, died after experiencing severe dehydration, malnutrition and cardiac arrest.
What’s the appeal?
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appeal → suffer → dehydration
Well, the real thing has been shown to be ultra-effective for weight loss — even more so than current favorites like Ozempic and Mounjaro.
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thing → show → Ozempic
While Ozempic and Wegovy act on one metabolic receptor (GLP-1), dual agonists like Mounjaro and Zepbound act on two (GLP-1 and GIP and GLP-1 and glucagon).
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agonists → act → two
Reta, the next-gen drug, is also known as “triple G” because it acts on three receptors: GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors.
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it → know → receptors
In the latest reta trial, patients taking the lower dose shed an average of 44.3 pounds, or 19.5% of their body weight, while those on the higher dose lost an average of 47.4 pounds, or 20.9%.
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those → take → pounds
Ozempic, meanwhile, helped participants lose an average of 20.9 pounds, or 9.4% of their body weight.
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participants → help → weight
The drug even made headlines earlier this year when some study participants dropped out of trials because they lost weight too quickly.
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they → make → weight
The FDA has issued warnings about retatrutide and all other unapproved, compounded GLP-1 medications.
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FDA → issue → retatrutide
“This can be risky for patients, as unapproved versions do not undergo FDA’s review for safety, effectiveness and quality before they are marketed,” the agency warned.
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agency → undergo → safety
The Aporia
