Federal regulators have issued warning letters to 30 telehealth companies for making false claims about compounded weight-loss medications. The companies allegedly misled consumers into believing their products were equivalent to approved drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic.
Federal health officials issued warning letters Tuesday to 30 telehealth companies accused of making deceptive claims about compounded weight-loss medications.
The Food and Drug Administration says these companies marketed compounded GLP-1 medications on their websites in ways that could confuse consumers into believing the products were identical to FDA-approved weight-loss treatments like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic, as well as Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro.
According to the agency, several companies falsely claimed their compounded medications were equivalent to approved GLP-1 treatments. Some firms also concealed the actual source of their products by using their own brand names, creating the false impression they were the original manufacturers.
“We are paying close attention to misleading claims being made by telehealth and pharma companies across all media platforms — and taking swift action,” stated FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who described this as part of “a new era of enforcement.”
These warning letters represent the second wave of enforcement actions against telehealth companies since federal regulators began cracking down on deceptive direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketing in September, the FDA reported.