Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson on Thursday urging the agency to investigate shady online marketing practices of GLP-1 receptor agonists.

In February, Skrmetti led a 38-state and territory bipartisan coalition requesting that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) take action against bad actors who seek to capitalize on the demand for GLP-1 drugs by distributing unapproved versions.

Skrmetti and Blackburn requested the FTC to assist the FDA on cracking down on the distribution of illegal GLP-1 drugs – whether compounded, counterfeit, or otherwise misrepresented – by investigating how the drugs are being advertised directly to consumers on social media through “aggressive and manipulative marketing tactics.”

The Tennessee officials cited an analysis published in JAMA Health Forum which reviewed online sales advertising for compounded GLP-1 medications and concluded that “many websites” provided limited safety information, unauthorized efficacy claims, and did not disclose adverse effects about the marketed drugs.

Further, according to the analysis, some websites did not disclose that the drugs were compounded or incorrectly referred to them as ‘generic’ and directed consumers through low-barrier “consultations” that circumvent the more thorough medical evaluation such a prescription for FDA-approved GLP-1 drugs typically require.

“What we are seeing is a growing commercial ecosystem that relies on the facade of legitimacy, all the while sidestepping appropriate regulatory oversight. Consumers seeking to improve their health are funneled through online evaluations and presented with products that may well pose genuine medical risks, all while being told they are receiving the same benefits as prescription medications that have passed FDA review,” Blackburn and Skremtti wrote.

Stressing how the risks to consumers are “real and growing,” Blackburn and Skrmetti called on the FTC to “initiate a formal investigation” into the advertising practices by companies marketing GLP-1 drugs and consider enforcement actions as well as work with the FDA to “issue clear guidance” regarding the marketing of compounded pharmaceuticals.

“Swift action will help protect public health and reaffirm the Commission’s role in ensuring “truthful, non-misleading and accurate” advertising of sensitive products consumers are putting into their bodies,” Skrmetti and Blackburn concluded.