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Reminiscent of the FTC’s actions around online tracking technologies, on September 9, 2025, the FDA sent hundreds of warning letters to pharmaceutical companies, compounding pharmacies and telehealth providers. The FTC letters were quickly followed by enforcement actions against telehealth providers like Betterhelp and Cerebral and multimillion dollar settlements. While it remains to be seen what, if any, actions the FDA will take next, pharmacies and telehealth companies, especially those marketing GLP-1 drugs, should change how they talk about prescription drugs on their websites and social media pages and in advertisements.
Spotlight: FDA Targets Direct-to-Consumer Advertising
The letters largely targeted direct-to-consumer advertisements by two industry groups: pharmaceutical companies and telemedicine platforms. The FDA sent a letter to thousands of pharmaceutical companies directing them to remove noncompliant ads that emphasize the benefits of medications while failing to discuss risks and potential complications. According to the FDA, a 2024 study revealed 88% of advertisements for top-selling drugs fail to adhere to the FDA’s “fair balance” guidelines requiring advertisements to discuss the benefits and risks of medication in a balanced manner. The letter was especially critical of social media advertisements where discussions of risks are sometimes entirely absent.
Downplaying Risks: Minimizing Risks Can Get You In Trouble
The FDA also sent separate letters to several pharmaceutical companies regarding TV ads, stating they were false or misleading because they failed to properly disclose the potentially life-threatening risks of weight loss drugs. According to the FDA, downplaying some risks as “overhyped” and failing to mention other serious risks makes the ads deceptive and violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Telemedicine Platforms Must Play By The Rules, Too
The letters targeting telemedicine companies such as Hims and Hers continued a trend of enforcement actions against companies promoting and selling GLP-1s and other weight loss drugs. Last year, the FDA sent letters to several compounding pharmacies selling compounded GLP-1 medications that, despite being labeled for research purposes, were marketed for human use. In this round of letters, the FDA targeted telemedicine platforms that compare their compounded medications to FDA-approved medications. The FDA letters took issue with websites that said compounded drugs had the same active ingredients as drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic or that said the compounded drugs contained clinically validated or proven ingredients. From the FDA’s perspective, such claims imply the compounded drugs are the same as the FDA-approved drugs when they are not.
A New, More Active FDA?
This isn’t your typical FDA. The letters followed President Trump’s executive order, which called for “action to ensure transparency and accuracy in direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising" and aligned with a joint FDA/HHS initiative targeting consumer pharmaceutical advertisements. In August, the FDA sent a letter to WHOOP rejecting the company’s claim that its wearable blood pressure technology was a “wellness” product. All of these actions appear to signal a new, more active FDA.
What to Watch For
More FDA Actions
The FDA has continued to release additional warning letters since the initial batch of letters went out on September 9, 2025. Just last week, the FDA sent a letter to an aesthetics company and several additional telemedicine platforms advertising weight loss medications. This first batch of letters is the beginning, not the end.
Social Media and Influencer Posts
The letter to pharmaceutical companies specifically referenced social media advertisements. But telemedicine platforms commonly use social media and influencers to advertise their services. If you’re advertising on social media or using influencers, you’ll need a plan for reviewing and updating advertisements that focus on the benefits of medication without equal time spent on the risks and complications.
Push Back on the FDA
It will be interesting to see if companies, particularly telehealth companies and compounding pharmacies, push back on the FDA’s efforts to regulate their websites and social media pages. While pharmaceutical advertisements clearly fall under the FDA’s purview, advocates for compounded drugs argue that because compounded drugs are made for a particular patient, they fall outside the FDA’s jurisdiction.
The Bottom Line
The current administration has made it clear that it will be closely watching how companies advertise their drugs to consumers. For direct-to-consumer telehealth companies, it’s a call to review their websites, social media pages, and advertisements.
And if you’re offering peptides and other weight loss medications? You should be especially alert to references to FDA-approved medications and ingredients. The FDA has made it clear that it is deceptive for telehealth platforms to compare their compounded medications to FDA-approved medications.
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