by Colonel Jeffrey D. Glover and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
The new FDA-approved weight loss medicines have changed the game for people with obesity, offering millions of Americans a chance to transform their health, prevent disease, and live longer lives. But as demand for these treatments soars, an illegal industry is growing alongside it. Criminal networks, counterfeiters, and rogue compounding pharmacies are taking advantage of patients’ needs, flooding the market with fake, unsafe, and untested knockoffs. In December 2023, the FDA seized thousands of counterfeit injection pens within the U.S. drug supply chain. A Tennessee woman’s home was also raided by police, where officers found more than 300 vials of counterfeit weight loss drugs—semaglutide and tripeptide—that she had been supplying to med spa clinics. After testing, one of the vials contained nothing but water. This is the reality of an unregulated black market. People think they are injecting medicine into their bodies that will improve their health, but they could be injecting poison—or nothing at all.
For counterfeiters and other profiteers, the market is ripe for exploitation—high patient demand and a rising obesity epidemic create the perfect conditions for their illegal trade to thrive. The result? A knock-off weight-loss drug market populated with med spas, online “telehealth” sellers, and unauthorized compounding pharmacies pushing dangerous counterfeit or untested compounded medications. The Black community is especially vulnerable given its higher prevalence of obesity. In 2023, non-Hispanic Black or African American adults were 30 percent more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic White adults, with 43 percent of non-Hispanic Black adults over the age of 18 classified as obese. As the Executive Director of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), I oversee an organization whose mission is to protect our communities from harm. Law enforcement officers are already seeing the rise of counterfeit weight loss drugs spread through our communities. Just as with illicit street drugs, enforcing the law is critical to get these dangerous products off the market. But equally critical is to stem consumer demand.
The Trump administration has an opportunity to help curb this rising demand. Currently, there is a proposed rule at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) rule that would provide coverage for FDA-approved weight loss drugs, thereby significantly increasing access to these innovative medicines. Unlike other chronic diseases, obesity treatments have been excluded from Medicare coverage. The result has been limited access to authentic medicines, creating a high demand for knock-off versions. While law enforcement must do its part to rein in bad actors, the new administration can help by finalizing the CMS proposed rule. Providing greater access to safe and effective medicines would go. A long way to put illicit suppliers on notice and out of business. No one should be exposed to the risks that come with untested, unregulated injectable medicines and I am confident President Trump will make the right decisions to protect American public health.
(Colonel Jeffrey D. Glover is President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. His email address is President@noblenatl.net.)
(Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. His email is dr.bchavis@nnpa.org.)
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