Raising new concerns about potentially dangerous GLP-1 drugs marketed for weight loss, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sent a letter July 17 urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.
"These drugs, increasingly promoted as alternatives to FDA-approved medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, are being advertised in ways that mislead consumers and undermine both public health and integrity of the pharmaceutical marketplace," the senator and the letter's co-author, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti wrote in the letter.
State leaders also pointed to a Feb. 20 warning issued by Skrmetti and attorneys general from 37 other states about potentially unsafe weight loss and diabetes drugs sold online and through social media. Fraudsters in foreign countries promise a quicker and easier way to get GLP-1 drugs but don't always disclose ingredients in counterfeit drugs. Some even contain unknown amounts of insulin.
"Amid the unprecedented demand for these miracle medicines, foreign criminals and con artists are defrauding and endangering Americans by selling and shipping counterfeit and deceptively marketed GLP-1 drugs and active ingredients," the letter warns.
Some sellers post false claims that their products are approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
"The FDA-approved GLP-1 medications are life-changing for millions of patients, and resulted from decades of research and testing," according to the letter.
Patients who have benefited include award-winning Nashville-based vocalist Michael Trotter Jr. of the duo The War and Treaty.
However, scammers in China, Turkey and India are selling products claiming to contain semaglutide, the active ingredient in prefilled injectable pens sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy. They also are selling fake tirzepatide, the active ingredient in popular GLP-1 drugs like Zepbound and Mounjaro.
"Unscrupulous companies also advertise alternative formulations of GLP-1 drugs, like nasal sprays for children, that have never been subjected to clinical testing for safety or effectiveness," according to a warning issued by the Tennessee AG's Consumer Protection Division.
Once the drugs enter the U.S., they are quickly shipped across the nation, making it difficult to track, Skrmetti told The Tennessean in June.
"Sometimes we really need the federal government to step in," said Skrmetti, a former assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted federal crimes in Memphis.
The July letter he and Blackburn sent to the FDA cautions "the risks to consumers are real and growing."