I’m an obesity expert and can’t wait for the compounding craze to stop

I run a medical practice built almost entirely around treating obesity by video. Labs, history, follow-up — all possible through a screen. 

And yet I’ve never written a prescription for a compounded GLP-1. 

Both of those things are true because good telemedicine doesn’t cut corners. It’s past time for the FDA to enforce that by cracking down on the online sellers, stand-in prescribers, and bad actors exploiting compounding regulations.

The agency should issue guidance stating that cost is not a medical justification for compounding a drug, that a compounded GLP-1 is not a like-for-like substitute for an approved one, and that prescribing one without genuine medical necessity puts patients at risk and physicians’ licenses on the line.

And the prescribers fueling this compounding craze should stop. If you can’t name the medical reason your patient needs a knockoff GLP-1, you don’t have one.

Earlier this year, the FDA sent warning letters to 30 telehealth companies that blurred the line between approved and compounded GLP-1s in their ads. But vague admonishment doesn’t move the bottom line.

As demand for GLP-1s has surged, so has the market for........

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