A mother-of-one has been left fighting for her life after using a counterfeit weight loss drug that caused seizures and left her needing a tube cut into her throat to breathe.
Kellen Oliveira Bretas Antunes, 42, from Brazil, began using a drug called ‘Lipoless’ last month. It is often marketed as a fat burning capsule but is illegal to sell in her home country because it is not recognized by Brazil’s health agency.
Just three days after starting it, she began experiencing severe abdominal pain and body aches, prompting her to rush to the hospital.
Doctors diagnosed her with suspected drug intoxication, a reversible condition of altered consciousness or mental state because of drug intake, and kept her in the hospital for eight days before she was discharged.
Three days later, however, she returned to the hospital after suffering from muscle weakness and dark urine. She also started to have seizures.
Since she was admitted on December 28, it’s been reported that she has had 16 seizures and has had to have a tracheostomy, where a hole is cut in the neck to help someone to breathe.
Her daughter Giulia Antunes said in a post today that her mother has been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disorder where the immune system attacks the body, causing muscle tingling, numbness and weakness.
Her daughter said: ‘She is stable. There has been a significant improvement, but the process will be long, right?’
Kellen Oliveira Bretas Antunes, 42, from Brazil, was hospitalized after using a counterfeit weight loss drug, according to local reports (pictured)
She told local media: ‘Since she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, it will take at least 12 months of treatment with physiotherapy, speech therapy and other specialists.’
The FDA has repeatedly warned the roughly 13 million Americans currently taking a GLP-1 medication for weight loss to steer clear of non-FDA-approved concoctions marketed online or from compounding pharmacies.
These versions can be more appealing because they are cheaper, but the FDA warned that they had not been through rigorous safety testing and could cause life-threatening side effects.
Maziar Mike Doustdar, CEO of Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, added to the warnings last week, saying that 1.5 million Americans are currently taking ‘unsafe, knock-off versions of our products’.
In Atunes case, it was not immediately clear how she had purchased the weight loss drug, taken the medication or how she was treated.
But her daughter has suggested that the weight loss drug came from Paraguay.
Antunes was hospitalized three days after using the counterfeit drug. She has since suffered 16 seizures and needed a hole cut in her neck to help her breathe
It was not immediately clear what caused the seizure but doctors say that seizures can be triggered by low blood sugar.
Doctors add that if a seizure causes prolonged breathing problems, it may also cause someone to need a tracheostomy to ensure they are receiving enough oxygen. If a patient is intoxicated from drugs, doctors may also insert a breathing tube because this can cause the airways to collapse.
Doctors treat drug intoxication, which Antunes was initially diagnosed with, by pumping the stomach, administering intravenous fluids and inducing vomiting. To treat a seizure, doctors may administer anti-seizure medications.
Local media has reported that the ‘Lipoless’ had been illegally imported into Brazil for use as a counterfeit weight loss drug. Some reports say it had the nickname ‘Paraguayan pens’.
Antunes’ daughter added, as reported by Need to Know: ‘My dad took the product to the hospital for tests, but they wouldn’t analyze it because it was medication from Paraguay.’
Antunes is shown above before her hospitalization
Flávia Coimbra, director of the Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism, told reporters that using medications that were not approved by Brazil’s health authorities came with very high risks.
She said: ‘There can be side-effects related to inadequate doses, hyperglycemia, and other adverse events such as contamination, serious infections, generalized infections, and worsening of pre-existing conditions.’
Yesterday, Brazil’s health agency Anvisa banned two weight-loss drugs often marketed on social media but not registered with the agency.
A spokesperson said: ‘The products were manufactured by unknown companies and are being advertised and sold through Instagram profiles without registration, notification, or listing with Anvisa.
‘Because they are irregular products of unknown origin, there is no guarantee about their content or quality.
‘Therefore, they should not be used under any circumstances.’
Authorities are investigating Antunes’ illness.
In the US, at least 10 deaths have been linked to compounded medications since 2023, according to the FDA’s monitoring system. These reports do not confirm the drug caused the fatalities, as the FDA has not yet completed investigations to establish a definitive causal link.
The agency’s latest warning in September noted 605 adverse events linked to compounded semaglutide and 545 reports for compounded tirzepatide as of July.