One of us is a former UFC Champion, and the other is an Army veteran who served in the Second Iraq War, and now we both live without a daily physical regimen meant to keep us in fighting shape. To stay lean, we keep active and regulate what we eat.
While we are lucky that we have the skill sets to remain fit, there are millions of Americans that struggle to maintain their weight and are fighting a losing battle with being overweight. Shockingly, nearly half of Americans (43%) are obese – a terrible statistic.
People often ask us for advice about how to improve their bodies. While we can advise on diet and supplements, it’s hard to ignore the use of the new miracle drugs that are helping people lose weight.
This is why we applaud President Donald Trump, who recently ensured that weight loss drugs, like Zepbound and Wegovy, are now covered by Medicaid and Medicare. It’s important that people have access to these treatments, regardless of their wealth or status. This is a serious accomplishment for the White House and will make millions of Americans slimmer and healthier.
But something else that the Trump administration needs to start addressing, are the fake varieties of these weight loss drugs being sold. Watch an online movie or surf the Internet, and you are likely being bombarded by advertisements for these discount diet drugs. These knock offs are known as compounded drugs.
But compounded drugs are not the same as the brand name versions, and they are not proven as either safe or effective. Yes, you read that right. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has no idea if these medications work. This statement is actually on the FDA website: “Compounded drugs are not FDA approved, which means the agency does not verify their safety, effectiveness or quality…”
If the FDA doesn’t know if these drugs are safe or effective, how are they even allowed to be sold?
Between 2022 and 2024, when there wasn’t enough of the brand name weight loss drugs, in order to alleviate shortages, the FDA allowed compounders to sell knock-off versions of these medications.
But eventually, the shortages of these weight loss drugs ended – and the FDA instructed the compounders to stop selling the knock offs. But the compounders were making massive profits and didn’t want to give up a lucrative business. So, the compounders got creative. They realized they could keep selling these drugs by misusing a loophole in law called “personalized medicine.”
Under the guise of “personalized medicine” the compounders are creating unique drug combinations that include the weight loss drug, plus another medication. As in, no drug makers make weight loss drugs plus other medications – so compounders falsely claim they are filling a gap in the marketplace with these concoctions. But the problem is that no one knows if these compounded drug cocktails are safe. They have never been clinically tested. Also, the FDA has not verified that combining a diet drug with another drug is an effective weight loss strategy.
As guys who value our health, and like the millions of Americans who voted for Donald Trump because he promised to help Make America Healthy Again, we are asking the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy, to crack down on compounders who prey on people who need medical assistance.
Not surprisingly, many of these fake compounded weight loss drugs are made in China. Enough is enough. Let’s get serious about making people healthy, and ensure Americans take safe and effective weight loss drugs – not lame compounded medications.
Mark Kerr is a championship wrestler, former UFC champion, and is portrayed by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the recently released film The Smashing Machine. Christopher Neiweem is an Iraq War Veteran who served in the U.S. Army and is the Director of the American Veterans Policy Network (AVPN)
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