Brazil bans sale of unregistered slimming pens

Brazil’s national drug regulator Anvisa on Wednesday (Jan. 21) prohibited the sale, distribution, manufacture, import, advertising, and use of medications based on tirzepatide from the Synedica and TG brands, as well as retatrutide products of all brands and batches. These products are popularly known in the country as “Paraguayan slimming pens.”

According to the agency, these medications are manufactured by unknown companies and are sold on Instagram profiles “without registration, notification, or listing with Anvisa.”

The Brazilian drug regulator also said in its press release that, because the products are irregular and of unknown origin, “there is no guarantee about their content or quality” and that, therefore, these slimming pens cannot be used “under any circumstances.”