If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve probably seen the ads.
Lose weight fast. Get access to GLP-1s. Skip the doctor’s office. Delivered right to your door.
For millions of Americans looking to lose weight, the promise is appealing. These remarkable drugs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound, have become some of the most sought-after medicines in the country, helping patients lose weight and better manage chronic disease.
But there is something many consumers don’t realize when they click “buy.”
In many cases, the drug being advertised isn’t the FDA-approved medication at all. Instead, consumers may be purchasing a compounded version — essentially a copycat product that has not gone through the same approval process as the original drug.
Compounded medications serve an important purpose when pharmacists create customized medicines for individual patients with unique medical needs. What they were never intended to be is a mass-market substitute sold through aggressive online advertising campaigns.
Yet that’s exactly what happened during the nationwide shortage of GLP-1 medicines. Regulators temporarily allowed compounded versions to help address supply shortages. But the shortage has ended, yet many sellers continue marketing compounded GLP-1 products online.
The FDA has repeatedly warned consumers about safety concerns associated with some of these products, including dosing mistakes, improper storage, questionable sourcing of ingredients and misleading marketing claims.
The risks are not hypothetical. As of this spring, the FDA had received nearly 1,000 reports of adverse events associated with compounded semaglutide products and nearly 750 reports involving compounded tirzepatide products.
Then there’s an even more troubling example.
Some online sellers are already marketing compounded versions of retatrutide, an experimental obesity treatment that has not yet been approved by the FDA. Consumers are being offered copycat versions of a drug before regulators have even finished evaluating the original product’s safety and effectiveness.
That’s a risk no patient should have to take.
There is another concern that consumers may not immediately see.
A new Pacific Research Institute study estimates that widespread sales of unauthorized GLP-1 copycats could ultimately mean four or five fewer new medicines are developed in the future. Imagine if one of those lost medicines could have been the next breakthrough treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, heart disease or obesity itself.
Developing a new medicine takes years of research, billions of dollars and a high likelihood of failure. If unauthorized copycats are allowed to replace approved medicines, the incentives to invest in future breakthroughs inevitably weaken.
The good news is that federal regulators have begun cracking down on companies marketing unauthorized GLP-1 copycats. But enforcement can only do so much.
Consumers should approach online offers with healthy skepticism. Before purchasing a weight-loss medication online, ask whether it is the FDA-approved version, whether it comes from a licensed source and whether your physician knows exactly what you’re taking.
GLP-1 medicines are among the most promising medical advances in decades. Americans deserve confidence that the medication arriving at their doorstep is exactly what it claims to be.