Banks specifically cited the problem of potentially hazardous drugs coming in from unregulated Chinese factories.
A Republican Senator is urging the Food and Drug Administration to take more aggressive action against knockoff and counterfeit weight loss medications.
Senator Jim Banks (R. Ind.) wrote a letter to the FDA earlier this week sounding the alarm about foreign-made pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) being used in injectable weight loss drugs without patients’s awareness, National Review has learned.
“Booming online gray and black markets are flooding the country with knockoff and counterfeit GLP-1s contaminated with foreign-made APIs, and few Americans purchasing these drugs are aware of the risks they pose. I request detailed information about how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will prevent unlawful APIs from entering the country and potentially harming Americans,” Banks said.
Last month, a bipartisan coalition of 38 state attorneys general voiced similar concerns in a letter to the FDA describing how online retailers are illegally selling the active ingredients of weight loss drugs to consumers who do not have a subscription for the GLP-1 medications. Banks reiterated their concerns and highlighted the unapproved APIs coming to the U.S. from China and other foreign nations.
“As a result of lax oversight, the FDA is allowing in mass amounts of APIs that were manufactured at unregistered foreign plants and should not be allowed entry to the U.S.,” Banks asserted. “This is particularly a problem in China, where companies that export APIs are not even required to hold drug manufacturing licenses or meet safety requirements that apply to medicines sold within China.”
It is unclear if the FDA is currently working with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to inspect the foreign APIs to determine whether they are coming from sources registered with the FDA that have certificates of analysis from the agency verifying their products.
The FDA does have a page on its website with information for consumers using unapproved versions of GLP-1 weight loss medications. The agency advises patients to seek out a prescription and talk to their doctor because of the risks associated with unregulated versions of the injectable weight loss products. To curtail illegal sales, the FDA has sent warning letters to internet pharmacies and companies falsely marketing their drugs as being for research purposes.
A China hawk, Banks has introduced legislation to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from stealing critical research and deter U.S. pension funds from investing in Chinese companies. Banks was previously a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party when he was a congressman.
Weight loss drugs have soared in popularity among Hollywood entertainers and other cultural figures following groundbreaking initial research that showed significant appetite decreases and weight loss for people struggling with obesity. Side effects from the GLP-1 medications include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, but the long term consequences are still being researched.
American obesity rates and deaths from heart disease have skyrocketed over the past few decades, a problem that has drawn considerable scrutiny from political figures ranging from former first lady Michelle Obama to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.