A Physician’s Assistant Speaks Out About the Dangers of Online Weight Loss GLP-1 Meds

Guest Opinion by Kendall Roper, PA-C

In over 20 years working as a physician assistant in Alabama, including in surgery, the emergency room, and now in orthopedics, I have witnessed the impact of obesity on health and quality of life. People with obesity tend to experience more joint pain, heart disease, and diabetes, among other health issues. In fact, when patients come to our practice with arthritis or other joint problems and seek knee or hip replacements, we require them to first lose weight until their body mass index is below 40. New medications, including GLP-1 drugs and others, can assist in this. However, I am seeing a concerning rise in patients turning to online pharmacies for unapproved, compounded weight loss medicines and experiencing their side effects. 

When a person needs to lose weight before surgery, I recommend assessing their diet and exercise habits and collaborating with their primary care physician to develop a weight loss plan. This plan may include medication, working with a nutritionist, and increasing physical activity. Some patients do require medication to lose weight, and in such cases, that decision should be made in consultation with a careful physician who can evaluate if other health issues might increase their risks when using medication. 

When a person is being treated with any medication, they should consult with a doctor and remain in regular contact with their physician to monitor side effects. Some people will have poor outcomes or reactions even to FDA-approved drugs. Physicians can help a person understand if they are having an experience with a drug that may cause harm and should stop taking it. But taking a non-FDA approved medicine adds an additional layer of risk, you and your doctor don’t know what is in it and how your body will react to the strength of the drug or impurities. 

When people turn to online pharmacies for versions of weight loss drugs that are not approved by the FDA, they often don’t know exactly what they are getting. There's a higher risk that the medication may contain impurities or that the amount of active ingredient isn't accurately labeled. Additionally, these online pharmacies dispense compounded drugs in doses and forms that have never been evaluated; for example, there is no FDA-approved GLP-1 pill, yet they are heavily marketed on the internet. The FDA does not set standards for the dose or strength of compounded medicines, and often the ingredients are imported from uninspected manufacturing facilities in China and India. 

Advertisements promoting these unapproved medicines omit any mention of risks and only highlight benefits like a better swimsuit body. There's a reason drug ads are so bothersome with all the risk details; taking medicine can be helpful, but it should be carefully weighed against the possible negative effects of any treatment.  People ordering a drug online should pay careful attention to the source; if it isn’t the FDA-approved version, then the risk of a bad outcome is higher. 

I’m glad that people have more choices to help them with weight loss. Ideally, people try the least risky approach and add additional help as needed. I encourage people to be aware of what they are taking; many don’t know they are taking an unregulated product of unknown quality and strength. The FDA can do a better job keeping uninspected imported ingredients out of our supply chain. Just think of the potential harm that could be caused to millions of people. 

Kendall Roper is a PA-C with twenty years experience in Trauma Critical Care Orthopedics and Internal Medicine  Currently, she treats patients weekly in Clanton in Orthopedics. 

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