A man known for promoting weight loss injections on social media has a criminal history involving drug dealing. Mark Allen, aged 46, advertises peptides, including Retatrutide, on his Weight Loss and Gym Gains page, even though Retatrutide is not authorized for use in the UK. In 2018, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in Exeter Crown Court for possessing crack cocaine and heroin with the intent to distribute.

During the trial, evidence showed that Allen manufactured crack cocaine in a bedroom and had incriminating messages on his phone offering drug deals and boasting about the quality of the drugs. Presently, he operates a garden fencing business and earns extra income by selling unlicensed weight loss and health peptides.

Despite claiming that the substances are not for human consumption, Allen shares videos on TikTok and Instagram demonstrating how to prepare and inject the peptides. In one video, he refers to Retatrutide as “Rataloullie” in an attempt to circumvent regulations and praises its weight loss effects.

Many of his social media posts are tagged with #weightloss, #energy, #weighttransformation, and #peps, alongside striking before-and-after transformation images. His wife, Becky, also promotes the peptides on TikTok, often featuring Mark in her videos. When questioned about the legality of their business, Allen promptly deleted his TikTok account and denied any unlawful operations.

Furthermore, Retatrutide is an experimental injectable medication currently undergoing clinical trials for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Although selling Retatrutide and similar peptides is legal for research purposes in the UK, marketing them for human consumption is prohibited under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.

Ashton Collins from Save Face, a government watchdog, highlighted the increasing reports of health issues resulting from the online purchase of injectable peptides. Sellers often label these products as “not for human use” or “for research purposes only” to bypass regulations while promoting them for cosmetic and performance enhancements.

There are concerns that if government action is not taken promptly to address this issue, it could lead to a significant public health crisis. Similar problems are already emerging in countries like Australia, where self-administered tanning peptides have been linked to skin cancer risks.