July 1, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease (HECCD) applauded the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its fight against compounded GLP-1 treatments, which are unregulated and can have dangerous side effects for those who use them. The agency issued 62 warning letters over the past 30 days to telehealth companies illegally marketing compounded GLP-1 medications with false or misleading claims. 

Copycat GLP-1 medications are sold within a grey market by telehealth companies who use deceptive advertising to increasingly reach consumers. This disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations dealing with chronic disease —  including communities of color, rural populations, older adults, and other underserved communities disproportionately impacted by obesity. HECCD and its coalition members are calling on the agency to sustain and intensify its enforcement in the months ahead.

The FDA’s latest action, paired with the agency’s newly published “What to Know When Promoting Compounded Drugs” guidance for telehealth companies, lays bare just how deep and how deceptive the compounded GLP-1 gray market has become. HECCD believes the sheer volume of enforcement in a single month is proof that patient safety in this space demands sustained, aggressive federal oversight that continues to put patients first.

“This isn’t a handful of bad actors but rather a pattern. When the FDA has to send out 62 warning letters in just a single month, that tells you the scale of the problem is far larger than most patients realize. Every one of those letters represents a company that put profit ahead of a patient’s right to know what they were actually putting in their body. We’re grateful the FDA is finally treating this like the public health threat it is, and we’re urging the agency not to let up,” an HECCD spokesperson said.

The communities that HECCD represents — communities of color, rural communities, low-income families, older adults and underserved communities overlooked by the healthcare system — face the highest rates of obesity and often the least reliable access to trusted medical care. Despite this disproportionate burden, coverage for evidence-based obesity care remains inconsistent, leaving many patients to seek treatment outside traditional healthcare channels. That combination makes them prime targets for misleading marketing around unregulated compounded GLP-1s. HECCD encourages the FDA to continue to crackdown on these copycat drugs as these groups would benefit most from closing the door on this grey market.

The Scope of the Problem

In its warning letters and accompanying guidance, FDA identified a consistent set of deceptive tactics used by telehealth companies to sell unapproved compounded GLP-1 products, including:

• Falsely branding themselves as the compounder, misleading patients about who actually made the drug they’re injecting.
• Calling compounded drugs “generic” equivalents, despite the fact that generics undergo FDA approval and compounded drugs do not.
• Claiming FDA approval or evaluation for products that have never been reviewed by the agency for safety, effectiveness, or quality.
• Marketing compounded drugs as “clinically proven” to work the same as FDA-approved medications, with no evidence to support it.
• Fabricating “FDA-approved” or “FDA-licensed” sourcing claims, even though FDA does not approve or license compounding pharmacies or outsourcing facilities.

HECCD will continue to monitor FDA’s enforcement actions and to advocate for policies at the state and federal level that close the gap between what patients are promised and what they actually receive. 

Advocacy to Combat Compounded Medications 

HECCD has long advocated for stronger patient protections. Earlier this year, HECCD applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for announcing a series of new actions and steps to combat the proliferation and marketing of non–FDA-approved compounded, or “copycat,” GLP-1 obesity drugs, arguing that “Strengthening oversight and curbing misleading marketing are important steps in protecting patients’ health and upholding the integrity of the FDA approval process.” 

Last fall, HECCD joined with the National Consumers League (NCL) and a dozen other prominent national advocacy leaders (including LULAC, MANA, and NHCOA) to petition the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — asking them “to undertake a thorough investigation of the pervasive, deceptive and misleading marketing practices of telehealth platforms.” The petition argued, “these practices expose consumers to unsubstantiated claims and misleading inferences regarding safety, efficacy and the comparability of the ingredients used in compounded GLP1 products as compared to FDA approved products.” 

More information about the dangers of GLP-1 copycat medications for patients and consumers can be found at the NCL’s website here or in their policy report here. 

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The Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease (HECCD) believes that all people deserve the best possible health care. Continuing to allow outdated coverage policies to restrict access for communities dependent on public programs is counter to the principles of health equity. The Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease’s mission is to ensure that community experts, policy makers, providers, and other stakeholders work together to eliminate barriers to healthcare for rural communities, seniors, and communities of color, especially as related to access to care and treatment for obesity.