OPINION: Time to Crackdown on the Import of Illegal Weight-loss Drugs and Ingredients

New Jersey Congressman Herb Conaway recently sounded the alarm about the surge of illegal and counterfeit GLP-1 ingredients used for weight-loss drugs from entering the U.S.

As a registered nurse, I know first-hand that medical professionals advise patients to only take medicine prescribed by a doctor and receive at a trusted pharmacy. But that advice can only go so far when insidious sellers have infiltrated the supply chain with the promise of low-cost treatments.

These ingredients are manufactured in facilities without FDA oversight or quality controls. Some contain dangerous contaminants or bacterial impurities. Indeed, there have been more than 100 hospitalizations and 17 deaths associated with unregulated GLP-1s.

The response to this, at the state and federal level, must change. I applaud Congressman Conaway for leading the charge in the House to urge the FDA to use its existing statutory authority to ramp up enforcement over illegally imported GLP-1 ingredients and counterfeit prescription drugs including AOMs. I hope Governor Murphy and State Attorney General Matthew Platkin join this fight to protect New Jerseyans and shut down this underground market that is costing lives.

—Jean Alan Bestafka, RN, is the former president of the New Jersey Home Health Services Association. She resides in Manchester, NJ.