There is a new black-market drug sweeping the nation, especially among teenagers, but it doesn’t get its users high. Retatrutide, a powerful, unapproved weight loss drug, is being peddled illicitly on TikTok, in medical spas, and through the mail. While it is being studied for treating obesity and Type 2 diabetes, it has no regulatory or legal approval for human use anywhere in the world. It’s time for federal regulators to get serious about cracking down on the bad actors selling this potent medication.

Selling retatrutide violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and no doctor can legally prescribe it. The Food and Drug Administration has told every pharmacy board in the country, in writing, that compounding it is prohibited. Some bad actors slap a “research-use only” label on the vial to try to skirt the law, yet they include dosing instructions for consumers. The people illegally selling this drug online know exactly what they’re doing.