June 8, 2026: Reckless physicians prescribing experimental, black market weight loss drugs: “Why are we waiting?”
Major Stories
Retatrutide, a medication soaring in popularity despite not yet completing clinical trials, is an example of the devastating consequences of black market drugs. New reporting by CBS News highlights the actors fueling the spread of this medication, with more than 120 websites and dozens of medical clinics and spas across the country openly advertising or prescribing the drug. While early trial results suggest retatrutide may be even more effective than current weight-loss medications, some providers are irresponsibly offering it to patients based on the assumption that approval is inevitable. A Minnesota physician is quoted in the report saying, “I know that the FDA is going to approve this, and I thought, ‘Why are we waiting?’”
Because retatrutide has not completed the FDA approval process, products sold online or through clinics are black market drugs and come with no guarantee of quality, purity, or dosing accuracy. CBS News found that exposures reported to America's Poison Centers surged to an average of 95 cases per month in early 2026, a 265% increase from late 2025. While Eli Lilly’s phase 2 trials reported side effects of mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal events, Poison Center data showed mounting cases of vomiting, fainting, rapid heart rate, and severe gastrointestinal distress. Similarly, a study of Reddit users' self-reported side effects of retatrutide differed markedly from clinical trial data, including increased appetite, food cravings, and insomnia. The discrepancies may reflect black market sourcing, where some products marketed as retatrutide may not be retatrutide at all.
A comparison of symptoms reported by retatrutide vs. semaglutide/tirzepatide users on Reddit, per a June 2026 study.
As more states consider prescription drug affordability boards (PDABs), Illinois’ introduction of HB 1443 and SB 66 has offered invaluable case studies in how the policies can be paired with meaningful pharmacy protections. We outline the key provisions that pharmacists secured in these bills for advocates and pharmacists to use as a model in their states. Read the handout today.
Between November 2025 and May 2026, COFEPRIS, Mexico’s medicine regulator, issued 30 alerts for counterfeit or unapproved products. Products flagged included Keytruda, Ozempic, Rybelsus, Victoza, and tirzepatide, with the agency citing falsified lot numbers, missing active ingredients, contaminated products, and fraudulent packaging. The findings highlight the risks facing Americans who travel to Mexico for lower-cost prescriptions, where counterfeit medicines can be found in both black-market and legitimate healthcare channels. Learn more about what COFEPRIS found in our report.
A PDAB bill that protects pharmacies.
Domestic
A Tennessee mom’s near-death experience after taking misdosed semaglutide. Federal seizures at a Missouri company selling misbranded peptides. Unapproved drugs sold at a Pennsylvania supplement store. Unlicensed med spa owners causing facial paralysis and infections.
NBC News highlighted the story of a new mom in Tennessee who thought she was going to die after overdosing on compounded semaglutide. After being quoted eight times less than the brand-name monthly rate, she bought non-FDA-approved semaglutide through Mochi Health. As advised by the labeling of the product and in a phone call to Mochi Health, she took a dose nine times too large, which caused a two-night stay in the hospital. Mochi Health has been under scrutiny following whistleblower allegations that one of its supplying pharmacies recruited unlicensed employees in hardware store parking lots and shipped medications with frozen popsicles to cut costs.
Two Missouri men operating Blome Research were named in a federal seizure notice after a two-year investigation. The government says the men were selling misbranded peptides marketed as weight loss medications. Court documents say that between 2023 and 2025, the men sold 31,000 packages and deposited at least $15 million into various bank accounts. A Missouri woman who was taking products from Blome Research told KSN 16 she feels “betrayed” and that she is not planning on using their products again. She turned to the online company to save money and advises others in her situation to “Talk to your doctor first. Get under professionals, so you know for sure where it’s coming from.”
A Pennsylvania man faces 25 years in prison after admitting to selling unapproved and misbranded, performance-enhancing drugs in his supplement shop. From 2019 to 2021, the bodybuilder sold more than $2.2 million from this business, where “research use” or “not for human consumption” drugs made up the majority of his sales.
Photo: Port St. Lucie Police Department
In Texas, a former dental assistant was arrested at a med spa after a client got an infection from a lip filler injection. The woman was not licensed to perform the cosmetic injection and is charged with violating the state's medical practice statute and causing physical harm. In Florida, a woman running an illegal med spa out of a backyard shed was sentenced to three years in prison and five years of probation. In 2025, a woman experienced facial paralysis from Botox services at this med spa, which she reported to police.
In a letter to the US Senate, the National Taxpayers Union cited PSM’s Freight Fraud report to support the perspectives offered in relation to the hearing, “Poisoned Pills: The Human Cost of Dangerous Foreign Drugs.”
Pill presses
In New York, two men were convicted for their roles in a counterfeit pill manufacturing operation. Investigators say that the men oversaw the operation of industrial-scale pill pressing machines and marketed and sold the pills as prescription medications like oxycodone and Adderall. Their operation reached thousands of victims in all 50 states, including one Army veteran.
A Cambridge, Massachusetts man, who allegedly communicated directly with a supplier in China to obtain controlled substances and fentanyl precursor chemicals, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in connection with a large-scale counterfeit pill manufacturing operation. Investigators recovered more than five kilograms of suspected counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine and evidence of multiple pill press purchases from his home in 2024. Another Massachusetts man, who was identified as shipping a package of counterfeit pills concealed in the packaging of a children's toy, was sentenced to 138 months in prison. Investigators found a pill press and equipment like pill dyes to manufacture pills during a search of his residence.
In Virginia, two men were sentenced after investigators seized over 13,000 counterfeit Adderall pills and an industrial pill press. According to court documents, they used darknet marketplaces to sell counterfeit pills across the country.
A pill press seized in Virginia. Photo: USAO EDVA via DOJ.
Regulators protecting patients in the news
Tablets affected by the FDA recall.
FDA Recall
The FDA announced a recall of four lots of Haleon’s Gas-X Extra Strength Softgels 125mg, 120 ct. and 72 ct. The company says that the lots may be contaminated with diluted propylene glycol-based coolant from a machine leakage during the packaging process.
Ohio Board of Pharmacy Summary Suspensions
An Ohio med spa, owned by a chiropractor and an esthetician, was issued a summary suspension of their terminal distributor of dangerous drugs license, after regulators allege the owners used the licenses of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses without their knowledge to order NAD and sermorelin. The proprietors used these peptides personally and, in some cases, administered them to patients without proper authorization. One patient reportedly lost consciousness after receiving NAD, which they returned for a refund. The doctor used the returned product personally, without documenting it. During inspection, the chiropractor admitted to “self-prescribing” NAD and providing dosing guidance to patients, while the esthetician acknowledged taking home medications nearing expiration because she believed ownership justified it. Investigators also found unsecured controlled substances, undated vials in active stock, and purchases of BPC-157 from an unlicensed wholesaler.
Another med spa in Ohio was given a summary suspension letter after investigators found unapproved dangerous injectable drugs, including CJC/Ipamorelin, Semax/Selank, and a vial labeled Kisspeptin that was prescribed by the facility's responsible person for herself. The facility also had multiple violations of improper storage of dangerous drugs and controlled substances, which were often in unlocked cabinets or refrigerators in patient-accessible areas.
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy also issued a summary suspension for a Texas compounding pharmacy, which they say shipped almost 2,000 prescriptions of unapproved compounded drugs to Ohio patients.
The same pharmacy was also fined $1,500 by the Kansas Board of Pharmacy in 2024 for failing to report to the state's prescription monitoring program, despite multiple attempted contacts. According to the Texas Board of Pharmacy, a May 2022 inspection of the facility led to a mandate that the pharmacy immediately cease production of compounded sterile preparations due to pharmacist training failures, insufficient cleaning, and insufficient recordkeeping. After several inspections, the cease and desist notice was lifted in December 2022. An August 2025 inspection report noted similar issues, which seemed to be resolved as noted in a March 2026 follow-up.
FDA Warning Letters
The FDA issued a warning letter to an Illinois manufacturer after it isolated at least nine samples of Bacillus cereus, a bacterium that causes food poisoning, in its finished products and at least five samples taken from the manufacturing environment. The FDA says the firm failed to adequately investigate the root cause and prevent recurrences of the contamination. The FDA noted similar observations at the company's Wisconsin site.
The agency also warned a Mexican facility producing over-the-counter drugs for failing to accurately document and validate microbiology sampling and testing results, as well as processes for components of the drugs the firm produces.
Finally, the FDA warned a Georgia company selling herbal supplements that claim to support glucose management, lower blood pressure, and treat arthritis pain for selling misbranded and unapproved new drugs. An inspection of the facility also revealed failures to establish specifications and processes for testing and documentation of the contents of the supplements.
Legislation
The FDA’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and received the president’s endorsement. The bill would amend section 801 of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act to allow the agency to destroy imports of products that present a public health concern. This policy, championed by PSM, would prevent the re-importation of refused products and improve efficiency by reducing the need for CBP to seize FDA-regulated products to destroy.
A Louisiana bill to establish a prescription drug affordability board has been sent to the governor for a final signature.
Keep up with state legislation in the areas of pill presses, prescription drug affordability boards, drug importation, and med spas.
International
Mexican authorities dismantled a counterfeit drug ring. Pakistan implemented a pharmaceutical track-and-trace system.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reports that federal authorities in Mexico seized vials labeled as the cancer drug Keytruda during an operation to dismantle a counterfeit medicine ring. This is the second operation involving vials bearing Keytruda labels. According to a press release, government agencies also seized 15,000 doses of clonazepam, more than 100 counterfeit vaccines, and 1,000 vaccine labels.
Pakistan's Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination announced the implementation of a nationwide track-and-trace system for medicines aimed at eliminating counterfeit and substandard medicines.