What Chinese Companies Don't Want You to Know About Fake Weight Loss Drugs

Guest Opinion by Sheriff John Shearon, Chilton County Sheriff's Office

In law enforcement, we spend our days - and often our nights - working to keep dangerous substances out of our communities. Lately, a new threat has emerged, and it may already be in your refrigerator or medicine cabinet. It's time to ask yourself: Do you really know what's in that compounded weight loss
drug you're injecting?

You've probably seen the ads on Instagram or TikTok - slick promotions from websites like Willow or SkinnyRx, promising compounded weight loss drugs without the hassle of insurance or even a doctor's visit.

But here's the truth they don't want you to know: these are not FDA-approved medications. They are untested drugs, mixed in compounding pharmacies using bulk ingredients — often sourced from unverified suppliers overseas, especially in China. These companies are banking on the popularity of GLP-1 drugs and selling injections directly to consumers with little to no oversight. For patients desperate to lose weight, it can be almost impossible to tell the difference — and that's exactly what these sellers are counting on.

As a county sheriff, I've seen firsthand how counterfeit and unregulated drugs threaten our communities. Chinese companies are flooding the U.S. with illicit pharmaceutical ingredients. Just last year, they supplied enough to make more than 78 million doses sold to unsuspecting Americans. A recent Brookings report revealed that more than 75% of Chinese facilities producing these ingredients have
never even been inspected by U.S. regulators.

These shipments often come with labels that read "not for human consumption" or "for research use only" — because the Chinese Communist Party won't allow its own citizens to inject them. To sneak through customs, foreign actors mislabel these drugs as pigment, glue, pet food, even "kitten food" or
"facial masks." Yet inside are synthetic chemicals never meant to be in the human bloodstream.

And still, they end up here — in the bodies of Americans across the country.
One compounding pharmacy, Empower, advertises itself as the largest and most advanced in the U.S.

But an investigation found it was relying on foreign, untested chemicals — and its own labs weren't even up to code.

As a law enforcement officer, my job is to protect the safety of my community. The brave men and women who wear this badge alongside me work tirelessly to hold criminals accountable. It's time for our federal regulators to do the same.

The FDA should require that active pharmaceutical ingredients come only from registered, inspected, and approved manufacturers. Until that happens, we are leaving our nation vulnerable to mislabeled, synthetic, and unsafe drugs flooding across our borders.

That has to stop.

Thirty-eight state Attorneys General have already called on the FDA to step up enforcement against these illicit drugs. I join them in urging immediate action.

We need swift, decisive enforcement from the FDA and federal agencies to shut down this dangerous pipeline — starting with unregistered overseas suppliers and compounding pharmacies that cut corners with foreign-made chemicals. Until Washington treats this for what it is — a national public health and safety crisis — our communities will remain at risk. The longer we wait, the more lives are put in
danger.

Sheriff John Shearon has been Chilton County Sheriff since 2015, where he leads with a focus on community partnerships, public safety, and responsible policing. A lifelong resident of Chilton County, Sheriff Shearon is dedicated to protecting local families and strengthening trust between citizens and law enforcement.

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