{"id":5062,"date":"2026-07-21T09:36:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062"},"modified":"2026-07-21T09:36:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:36:02","slug":"jarvis-its-alarmingly-easy-to-get-obesity-drugs-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062","title":{"rendered":"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

A secret shopper survey conducted by researchers at Yale University and publishedearlier this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association offers an alarming, if unsurprising, glimpse into the world of telehealth purveyors of GLP-1 medicines. It confirms what doctors have worried about for years: The popular obesity drugs are being cavalierly prescribed. It should be yet another wake-up call for regulators.<\/p>\n

Read more Harriette Cole: My parents don\u2019t understand how hard I work<\/a><\/p>\n

Virtual clinics are popular with patients who have become frustrated by the often monthslong wait for an in-person appointment or whose insurance won\u2019t cover obesity medicines. But as these telehealth purveyors rapidly expand, regulators must make sure they\u2019re offering the comprehensive care people deserve \u2014 and not just capitalizing on consumer desperation.<\/p>\n

Yes, GLP-1s are incredibly effective at helping people lose weight. Yes, they can address a host of medical conditions associated with obesity. And yes, access and affordability have been problems almost from the moment Novo Nordisk\u2019s Wegovy and Eli Lilly & Co.\u2019s Zepbound were approved, pushing consumers to go outside of the conventional healthcare system to find them. But GLP-1s also ought to be prescribed with care \u2014 as with any other treatment.<\/p>\n

Shoddy exams<\/h4>\n

The secret shopper study made clear that often, they aren\u2019t. The researchers created a profile for a theoretical patient who fit the criteria for a GLP-1 and sought care at 49 online providers. Although the vast majority asked about the basics, like existing medical conditions, there were also some alarming gaps. Nearly half the telehealth providers neglected to ask about the patient\u2019s diet and physical activity, and 45% failed to broach the topic of eating disorders. That\u2019s a critical concern for medicines that could worsen or activate someone\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n

The study also revealed how some telehealth companies are hanging on to customers despite the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s recent crackdown on compounded GLP-1 drugs. As a reminder, this online marketplace bloomed because regulators allow compounding of medicines that are in shortage. And though Lilly and Novo have long since brought on enough manufacturing to meet the swell of demand for Wegovy and Zepbound, and the FDA has warned telehealth companies against selling compounded versions of the drugs, that gray market has persisted.<\/p>\n

The Yale researchers found companies\u2019 workaround involved asking patients leading questions to establish a reason for a personalized version of the drug. A provider might probe, for example, if a patient wanted to prevent nausea or wanted vitamins, or would prefer a mode of administration that differs from the injectables. The answer to those questions would technically permit them to sell a \u201ccustomized\u201d GLP-1.<\/p>\n

At first blush, the report had one silver lining: About a quarter of the telehealth companies required a video visit between a physician and patient before prescribing an obesity medicine. In theory, that should allow the doctor to go beyond the standard forms to make sure they\u2019ve understood someone\u2019s full medical history and answer patients\u2019 questions \u2014 not to mention get visual confirmation that a patient is being honest about their weight.<\/p>\n

But the Yale researchers found most of those meetings to be perfunctory at best \u2014 more like a box-checking exercise than a real evaluation, says Reshma Ramachandran, the Yale physician and health services researcher who led the study.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

In one particularly egregious incident, a physician who seemed to work at multiple telehealth companies wrote a prescription for the secret shopper across three platforms, including one that required a video visit. The doctor either didn\u2019t notice they were dealing with the same patient three times or didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

Read more Miss Manners: I RSVPed to the bridal shower and got a flabbergasting response<\/a><\/p>\n

Both scenarios are disturbing. The former suggests there aren\u2019t enough safeguards in place to ensure drugs are being appropriately prescribed; the latter suggests an utter disregard for patient safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this just indicated the telehealth platforms are not necessarily there to provide high-quality care, but just to prescribe,\u201d Ramachandran says.<\/p>\n

This issue of questionable care from virtual clinics isn\u2019t necessarily limited to GLP-1s. An earlier, smaller secret shopper study found that direct-to-consumer platforms targeting men seeking testosterone were similarly liberal with the prescription pad. In other areas where telehealth has flourished \u2014 say, women\u2019s health or aging \u2014 anecdotal evidence suggests some might be similarly lax.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Needed reforms<\/h4>\n

The question, of course, is how to fix this. The FDA\u2019s ramped-up efforts to wrangle the market for compounded GLP-1s are a good first step, but the agency also needs more help.<\/p>\n

One possibility would be to toughen the rules around compounding. Traditionally, compounding has been a service that can fill a supply gap or address an individual patient\u2019s particular needs. Yet as Ramachandran points out, online pharmacies have taken advantage of loopholes to pivot to mass distribution of compounded medications. One proposed bill would limit the number of times a particular pharmacy could create a personalized version of a particular product or risk losing their designation as a compounder.<\/p>\n

Pharma companies, too, should ensure their partners are acting responsibly. More than half of the telehealth sites involved in the survey offered branded products in addition to compounded drugs, or sent prescriptions to the companies\u2019 direct-to-consumer platforms.<\/p>\n

Consumers, too, should be more circumspect when considering these telehealth sites. They might provide an easier or cheaper avenue to a medicine, but there are hidden costs \u2014 namely, the kind of high-quality care and accountability that all patients deserve.<\/p>\n

Lisa Jarvis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering biotech, health care and the pharmaceutical industry. \u00a92026 Bloomberg News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Dear Abby: We will not be going to this rude man\u2019s wedding. Do we have to send a gift?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Yale secret shopper study reveals virtual clinics ignore critical patient history to make quick sales<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nJarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Yale secret shopper study reveals virtual clinics ignore critical patient history to make quick sales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T09:36:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T09:36:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062\"},\"wordCount\":976,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d69c7d8131b039574fda00705cb31ae4.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062\",\"name\":\"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d69c7d8131b039574fda00705cb31ae4.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T09:36:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d69c7d8131b039574fda00705cb31ae4.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d69c7d8131b039574fda00705cb31ae4.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5062#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online - Next City Digest","og_description":"A Yale secret shopper study reveals virtual clinics ignore critical patient history to make quick sales","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-21T09:36:02+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online","datePublished":"2026-07-21T09:36:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062"},"wordCount":976,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d69c7d8131b039574fda00705cb31ae4.webp","articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062","name":"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d69c7d8131b039574fda00705cb31ae4.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-21T09:36:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d69c7d8131b039574fda00705cb31ae4.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d69c7d8131b039574fda00705cb31ae4.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5062#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jarvis: It\u2019s alarmingly easy to get obesity drugs online"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}