Bad batch or bad reaction

If you or someone with you is in danger or getting worse, call your emergency number now. The rest of this page can wait.

Last reviewed . About this date

Emergency and poison help

United States

  • 911 Emergency. Call right away in an emergency.
  • 1-800-222-1222 Poison Help. Connects you to your local poison center, 24/7.

United Kingdom

  • 999 Emergency. For an emergency or signs of a life-threatening illness.
  • 111 NHS 111. If you think you need medical help right now.

Canada

  • 9-1-1 Emergency. Call in an emergency.
  • 1-844-POISON-X Poison centre, national line. Outside Québec, 24/7.
  • 1-800-463-5060 Centre antipoison du Québec. In Québec, 24/7.

Australia

  • 000 Triple Zero. If someone is seriously injured, in danger, or needs urgent help.
  • 13 11 26 Poisons Information Centre. From anywhere in Australia, 24 hours a day.

In the US, Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 connects you to your local poison center at any hour (HRSA). Canada’s national poison line covers every province except Québec, which runs its own centre (CAPCCT). This site can’t tell you whether a symptom is serious. The people on those lines can.

If the vial looks or feels wrong

A wrong color, cloudy liquid, or a lot number that doesn’t match the COA is reason enough to stop using that vial.

  1. Set it aside. Don’t throw it out, and don’t use any more of it.
  2. Keep everything. Hold on to the vial, the box and label, the COA, your order confirmation, and screenshots of the product page. A lab or your card issuer may ask for them.
  3. Get it tested by a lab with no ties to the seller. The vendor checklist covers what to ask for.
  4. Report it, using the options below.

Lilly warns that illicit retatrutide may contain contaminants, impurities, or the wrong ingredients entirely (Lilly, 2026). You won’t see most of that. A vial with too little peptide, or with endotoxin in it, can look normal, and a 2024 study of semaglutide bought online found endotoxin in every vial that arrived (Ashraf et al., 2024b).

Report the product

Report the seller

If the order never arrived or the seller lied about what you bought, report the seller as well as the product.

If you paid by credit card, you can dispute the charge. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, your dispute letter has to reach the card issuer within 60 days of the first bill that shows the problem (FTC, 2022). Crypto payments don’t carry the same legal protections, and the FTC warns that money sent that way is hard to get back (FTC, 2026).

Sources for this page

  1. Poison Help

    Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Gives the toll-free Poison Help line, 1-800-222-1222, available 24/7, which connects callers to their local poison center.

  2. Centres

    Canadian Association for Poison Centres and Clinical Toxicology. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Lists Canada's five regional poison centers, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the phone numbers to call from each province and territory.

  3. Identify Real Lilly Medicine

    Eli Lilly and Company. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Lilly warns that illicit retatrutide, often sold under a "research use only" pretext, may contain harmful contaminants, impurities, or the wrong ingredients entirely.

  4. Multifactor Quality and Safety Analysis of Semaglutide Products Sold by Online Sellers Without a Prescription: Market Surveillance, Content Analysis, and Product Purchase Evaluation Study

    Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR Publications). Published November 7, 2024. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Of 317 online pharmacy links, 134 led to 59 illegal sites; test vials were 7.7% to 14.37% pure, held 28.56% to 38.69% more semaglutide than labeled, and all had endotoxin.

  5. Reporting Serious Problems to FDA

    U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Updated September 26, 2025. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Lets consumers report a serious reaction or product quality problem to MedWatch online, on Form FDA 3500B, or by calling 1-888-INFO-FDA and pressing 2.

  6. Report a problem to the FDA

    U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Updated March 14, 2026. Checked September 10, 2026.

    Online form to report harm, product quality or mislabeling issues, or insider information about an FDA-regulated product; it takes 5 to 10 minutes.

  7. What to report to the Yellow Card scheme

    Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Explains that the public and health professionals can report side effects, defective products, and falsified or fake healthcare products to the Yellow Card scheme.

  8. Report a side effect

    Health Canada. Updated September 8, 2023. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Says anyone can report a side effect to a health or cannabis product and lets the reader pick a product type to start a report.

  9. Canada Vigilance Program

    Health Canada. Updated June 15, 2022. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Describes Health Canada's side effect monitoring program, says reports can be made online, by phone, fax, or mail, and lists its phone line, 1-866-234-2345.

  10. Reporting adverse events for consumers

    Therapeutic Goods Administration. Updated September 2, 2026. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Lets consumers report a medicine or vaccine side effect online through the Adverse Event Management System and links to the form for reporting fake medicines.

  11. Report a perceived breach or questionable practices

    Therapeutic Goods Administration. Updated July 12, 2024. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Online form to report counterfeit products or someone supplying an unapproved therapeutic product; reporters can use a pseudonym or stay anonymous.

  12. Counterfeit (fake) medicines and medical devices

    Therapeutic Goods Administration. Updated March 14, 2024. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Explains the risks of counterfeit medicines and lists ways to report a suspected fake, including an online form and the free-call line 1800 020 653.

  13. ReportFraud.ftc.gov

    Federal Trade Commission. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    The FTC's ReportFraud.ftc.gov takes reports of fraud, scams, and bad business practices and shares them with over 2,000 law enforcers, but it does not resolve individual reports.

  14. Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

    Federal Bureau of Investigation. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    The FBI runs the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which it calls the central hub for reporting cyber-enabled crime.

  15. Contact OCI

    U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations. Updated May 21, 2026. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Lists the address and phone number of FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations and links to the FDA form for telling law enforcement about an issue.

  16. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges

    Federal Trade Commission. Updated May 23, 2022. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    FTC says a Fair Credit Billing Act dispute letter must reach the card issuer within 60 days after the first bill with the error, and federal law caps unauthorized charges at $50.

  17. What To Do if You Were Scammed

    Federal Trade Commission. Updated June 30, 2026. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    FTC says cryptocurrency payments lack the legal protections of credit and debit cards, so money is hard to get back, and it takes scam reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

  18. Triple Zero

    Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Says to call Triple Zero (000) if someone is seriously injured, in danger, or needs urgent help, and notes that the calls are free.

  19. Poisoning

    Healthdirect Australia. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Gives the Poisons Information Centre number, 13 11 26, which you can call 24 hours a day from anywhere in Australia, and says when to call triple zero (000).

  20. 9-1-1 Services for Traditional Wireline, VoIP and Wireless Phone Services

    Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Updated October 28, 2024. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Explains how 9-1-1 calls work in Canada and gives tips for making an emergency call, such as telling the operator the nature and location of the emergency.

  21. When to use NHS 111 online or call 111

    NHS England. Updated November 14, 2022. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Explains when to use 111 online or call 111 for urgent medical help, and says to call 999 or go to A&E in an emergency.

  22. NHTSA's National 911 Program

    National 911 Program, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Checked September 10, 2026. Archived copy.

    Confirms 911 as the number to call immediately in an emergency and warns that the website itself cannot provide emergency help.