The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has sent three cease and desist letters to businesses in Avon, Brookfield and Danbury for advertising the sale of non-FDA-approved GLP-1 weight loss drugs, per a statement released this morning. It is only the latest of several actions taken by the AGO in recent months over the issue of bootleg GLP-1s being sold in Connecticut.
“There are currently no generic GLP-1 weight loss injections on the market, and anyone advertising or offering this is not telling the truth and exposing patients to potentially unsafe bootleg drugs,” said Attorney General William Tong.
The letters were sent to CT Weight Loss Shot in Danbury, Vigorous 360 Wellness in Brookfield and Radiance Medspa in Avon, each of which has advertised the sale of generic versions of semaglitude, commonly sold as Ozempic or Wegovy, or tirzepatide, commonly sold as Mounjaro or Zepbound.
The AGO alleged CT Weight Loss Shot and Vigorous 360 as having misrepresented the products as being FDA approved, despite the fact that there are no generic versions of GLP-1s on the market, and that they falsely advertised that the drugs had been clinically approved. The AGO also accused Radiance of advertising the sale of shots containing a combination of semaglutide and tirzepatide, despite the fact that such a mixture is no longer prescribed for general use.
Furthermore, the AGO found the owners of the business to have no physicians’ or nursing licenses, making the businesses unlicensed clinics.
“Our ongoing investigation into these knockoffs found three clinics, owned or controlled by laypeople, not licensed healthcare providers, deceptively marketing these compounded injections in Connecticut,” said Tong. “We have sent cease-and-desist letters to each of these clinics, and will not hesitate to take further action to protect patients and consumers.”
The issue of bootleg GLP-1s is not a new one; while demand for the drugs remains high due to their weight-loss potential, their costs remain high as well. Last year, the state spent approximately $34 to $40 million on state employees’ GLP-1 prescriptions. The drugs’ high cost and lack of generic counterparts have created an environment ripe for bad actors to offer unlicensed and unregulated versions of the drug at reduced prices.
In February, Tong joined 36 states and territories in signing on to a letter requesting the FDA take greater action against unlicensed GLP-1 producers. In May, Tong sent letters to weight loss clinics and med spas warning them to stop marketing GLP-1 drugs produced by compounding pharmacies, or pharmacies that produce their own medications in-house instead of distributing premade ones. The letter identified several health and safety concerns first noted by the FDA regarding the use of such drugs
“Compounding pharmacies are no longer allowed by the FDA to manufacture semaglutide or tirzepatide weight loss injections (collectively, “GLP-1 Medications”) in bulk because these medications are no longer on the FDA’s shortage list,” reads the letter.”The FDA has also identified multiple health and safety concerns associated with the use of compounded GLP-1 Medications, including dosing errors, compounding pharmacies’ use of salt forms of semaglutide and/or tirzepatide, many of which are sourced from overseas manufacturers with spotty inspection records, and multiple adverse event reports, some of which required medical intervention.”
In August, Tong settled with Triggered Brand, a Florida-based company that sold compounded GLP-1s to Connecticut residents. The company agreed to pay the state a $18,500 fine, which could balloon to $300,000 if the company is found to further violate the settlement terms. At that time, the OGA also began investigating a Chinese-based online market, Made in China, which sold “research grade” GLP-1s to American purchasers. The company has since told the OGA that it is no longer marketing such products.
Was this article helpful?
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
