Why compounded weight-loss medications are dangerous for your population
Our Experts Science-Backing Weight-loss medication
Wondr Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Tim Church, MD, MPH, PhD, addresses the risks of compounded drugs
In a recent Business Insider article, Wondr Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Tim Church, MD, MPH, PhD, addressed concerns regarding the safety risks of compounded drugs. During a time of rapid interest in weight-loss medications, prioritizing patient safety is top of mind for Wondr Health. When asked about compounded drugs, Dr. Church reported, “It’s playing with fire. It’s one of those things where it’s all good until it isn’t.”
Dr. Church points to two main areas for concern: lack of oversight and risk.
- Lack of oversight—When it comes to compounded drugs, the absence of effective oversight in the supply chain raises significant concerns about the origins of the products, their trackability, and overall quality. With little transparency on sourcing, there’s a risk of dosage inconsistencies, contamination, or expired products. It’s worth noting that GLP-1 injectables must be kept cold, which is another challenge. This lack of clarity extends to local pharmacies as well. You are trusting that the pharmacy and the supply chain behind them followed the proper procedures to produce the medication, but you are not assured that the drug is actually safe and effective.
Dr. Church says, “At this point, you’re really hoping that these sources are doing the right thing. It’s putting companies in a risky position with a lot of liabilities on hand.”
- Risk—You might be asking yourself, is it really that risky? Yes. Compounded drugs are without a doubt a risk employers shouldn’t be willing to take to avoid the potential liability, reputational damage, and harm to their population especially when there are safe and cost-effective ways to help your population improve their health and quality of life.
Our clinical obesity-management solution, Wondr Advanced, puts safety first and uses board-certified obesity experts and personalized medicine using the full-spectrum of FDA-approved drugs delivered through a regulated supply chain and combines them with a world-class behavior-change program to deliver clinical outcomes and cost savings with metrics every step of the way to track and analyze performance metrics in real-time.
Curious to learn more about Wondr Advanced to improve the health of your population? Contact us.
