Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that they were creating a “green list” import alert to prevent illicit GLP-1 active ingredients (API) from entering the country. The move comes following months of calls from state attorneys general, including New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin and members of Congress, including New Jersey Congressman Herb Conaway, to stop the flow of these ingredients from South and East Asia.
While this enforcement will help stem the flow of illicit API from entering our ports at locations like JFK Airport and Philadelphia, it cannot stop compounders that are continuing to skirt the law. To do that requires more aggressive action, including shutting down the compounders making illegal GLP-1s and stopping the sale of them by telehealth companies.
These compounding pharmacies are utilizing the same illicit API that the FDA has sought to eliminate from the ecosystem. And with enough illegal semaglutide and tirzepatide coming from China for at least 78 million doses last year alone, many of these compounding pharmacies can continue to make and sell illegally compounded GLP-1s to telehealth companies for the foreseeable future.
As a registered dietitian, I know these illicit GLP-1 products present a pharmaceutical danger, and given the nature of these products, those dangers can often go undetected until they cause irreversible harm. It only underscores the urgent need for stronger enforcement to shut down this dangerous underground market.
The way we shut this down requires state and federal actors working hand-in-hand. Beyond increasing enforcement to stop the flow of new illicit API, the FDA, Attorney General Matthew Platkin, and Governor Phil Murphy must take enforcement actions against illegal compounders and telehealth companies selling illegally compounded products.
It’s clear that bolder action is needed to truly stop this knockoff market from growing.
April Milevski, MS, RDN, is the Owner and Functional Dietitian at Fed by Strength LLC
