Utah Attorney General asks for more guidelines around weight loss drugs
Feb 24, 2025, 7:00 PM
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Derek Brown is joining attorneys general from 37 other states in asking for more safety guidelines around weight loss drugs.
A joint letter signed by 38 states asks the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate illegal and counterfeit weight loss drugs and work with state pharmacy boards to help keep them out of the hands of the public.
Brown said the rise of GLP-1 drugs is dangerous.
“You have high market prices. You have supply shortages. And what it’s done is created the opportunity for the bad actors to profit unlawfully.”
The weight loss drugs are definitely in high demand. The number of prescriptions for drugs like Ozempic, Zeopbound, Mounjaro, and Wegovy went up 400% in the last four years.
Their popularity has prompted some people to look for cheaper, more accessible options, giving scammers an opportunity to swoop in and sell potentially dangerous products.
Brown said they’ve seen all types of scams hitting the market.
“We even have some instances where the scammers have just repackaged insulin and sold it as semaglutide.”
Brown said as they’ve become more popular, they’ve also become more dangerous.
“They contain contaminants. They contain other ingredients that may be harmful.”
Related: Popular weight loss drugs may play a factor in vision loss, review shows
