A TOTAL of RM341,000 worth of an unapproved weight-loss drug was seized by the Health Ministry between 2025 and September this year, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
The Health Minister said the ministry’s Pharmacy Enforcement Division (PED) conducted 12 raids involving the drug retatrutide, which is not approved for use in Malaysia.
“The raids resulted in seizures involving an estimated value of RM341,000,” he said during the Question Time session in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Separately, the division also seized 62 units of two different types of registered and approved weight loss drugs worth RM64,170, following seven enforcement operations targeting the unprescribed sale of the products, he said.
Dzulkefly was responding to Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa (PH-Sekijang), who asked whether arrests had been made over the illegal online sale of regulated GLP-1 products following their promotion by social media influencers, and what stricter measures the ministry would take to curb such sales.
Retatrutide is not registered with the Drug Control Authority (DCA) and is not permitted for sale in Malaysia.
In June, the ministry said the prohibition also covered the import, marketing and supply of the drug.
Between January 2023 and December 2025, the PED removed 42,639 unapproved medical advertisements from e-commerce platforms and took action against another 13,070 such advertisements on social media.
Meanwhile, Dzulkefly said the ministry acknowledged growing concern over the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which had recently gained popularity.
However, he said diabetes treatment was highly individualised, depending on a patient’s condition, health status and other relevant factors.
“As such, treatment must be tailored to an individual’s health condition, degree of obesity and any other co-morbidities or underlying medical conditions.
“The use of GLP-1 must be based on a clinician’s assessment, as well as other considerations in determining the clinical indications and need for such treatment, particularly among patients with diabetes and excessive body weight or obesity,” he said.
He said patients requiring such treatment could apply for approval through the ministry’s existing special drug approval mechanism.
He added that 240 applications for treatment had been approved between January and September 2026, involving an overall cost of RM2.56mil.
He added that the ministry would continue to step up monitoring of e-commerce and online platforms to curb the misuse of such products, as its ultimate priority was to protect the safety, well-being and lives of the people.
