U.S. weight-loss drug gold rush has dangerous prescription problem: report

NEW YORK, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. telehealth companies looking to capitalize off the weight-loss drug boom have made it as seamless as possible to get the shots, sometimes regardless of medical need, reported Bloomberg News on Monday.

"It can take as little as filling out an online form and having a valid form of payment to get a prescription. The lack of guardrails means the drugs are getting into the hands of people for whom they're dangerous, or even life threatening," noted the report.

People with eating disorders are particularly vulnerable in this system, given their condition often drives them to lie to cover up their behaviors. Half a dozen eating disorder specialists across the United States said that they're seeing an influx of patients who've relapsed after taking drugs like Ozempic, according to the report.

In other cases, people at risk of eating disorders develop what one doctor calls "GLP-1 induced" anorexia after taking shots they never should've been prescribed, it said.

For people with anorexia, a drug that promises rapid weight loss is particularly dangerous. Eating disorders kill more than 10,000 people in the United States each year. Its victims are driven to get thinner by any means necessary, including not eating to the point of severe illness or starvation, it added.