By Councilman Mike Driscoll
In 2022, Philadelphia had one of the highest rates of obesity in the country. A staggering 67% of Philadelphians were overweight. That rate, however, should be declining owing in large part to the success of GLP-1 medications in treating obesity.
The last few years have seen significant demand for GLP-1s. And while there are multiple manufacturers producing FDA-approved GLP-1s that are meeting this demand, there are simultaneously unscrupulous actors selling knockoff versions that they’re passing off to consumers as the real thing.
To understand this threat, let’s take a broad look at the system.
Every single medication contains an active ingredient, which is what makes a given drug work. Under normal circumstances, medications are produced by drug companies and are regulated and approved by the FDA.
In times of shortages, the FDA allows compounding pharmacies to bulk produce a medication to fill the gap. These compounded medications, however, are not subject to the same rigorous oversight or approval by the FDA. As a result, approval for bulk production is temporary, and the system is only used as a safety valve during times of shortage.
In 2022, the FDA had designated GLP-1s on this shortage list, allowing compounding pharmacies to bulk produce the medications. In 2025, these shortages were declared over, and compounding pharmacies lost the ability to bulk produce GLP-1s.
Despite these shortages ending, some compounding pharmacies have continued to operate outside of the law, bulk-producing compounded GLP-1s and selling them to medical spas and telehealth companies to sell directly to consumers.
What makes this more insidious is where these pharmacies are getting their ingredients from.
Compounding pharmacies have largely turned to overseas companies to acquire the ingredients needed to produce compounded GLP-1s. The companies they are purchasing from operate in China, Turkey and India and are unregistered with the U.S. government, meaning that they have not undergone any facility checks.
It’s not uncommon for these ingredients, and as a result compounded drugs, to contain other contaminants that can make a consumer sick. The FBI even flagged that one shipment contained no active GLP-1 ingredients and was instead a hodgepodge of other ingredients.
The threat is severe, and over the last several months, there have been various actions taken that aim to stop the flow of these ingredients.
Following letters from 37 attorneys general, including Pennsylvania’s Dave Sunday, as well as a bipartisan letter from more than 80 members of Congress, the FDA released an import alert intended to prevent the import of illicit ingredients from unregistered sellers from entering the country. They followed that up by sending letters to several companies selling compounded GLP-1s and calling for them to stop their deceptive marketing and abide by the law.
But these actions only go so far. Stopping new ingredients is a piece of the puzzle, but in the last year, enough illicit ingredients for tens of millions of doses arrived in the U.S. and made it to the hands of compounding pharmacies. This needs to be removed from the ecosystem.
In neighboring Ohio, the State Board of Pharmacy worked with law enforcement to arrest the sellers of knockoff GLP-1s marketed as the real thing. This is action that Pennsylvania can take as well. Our state leaders need to work in conjunction with law enforcement and the federal government to confiscate any supply of illegal GLP-1s and shut down compounding pharmacies, telehealth companies and medical spas that are making and selling these products in Pennsylvania.
As a Philadelphia councilmember, I have a duty to protect the health and safety of my constituents. This means ensuring that illicit ingredients and illegal GLP-1s are off the streets. With an all-hands-on-deck approach, we can shut down this illegal market and guarantee that the only GLP-1s Americans are taking are those that are FDA-approved. ••
Councilman Mike Driscoll represents the 6th Councilmanic District.
