On July 14, 2025, the FTC announced its enforcement action against telemedicine company NextMed over charges it used misleading prices, fake reviews and deceptive weight-loss claims to sell GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. The FTC has now settled its charges that NextMed used deceptive practices to lure consumers into buying their weight-loss membership programs that had hidden terms and conditions. With the rise of both authentic and counterfeit GLP-1s throughout the nation and the proliferation of the availability of GLP-1s from telemedicine/telehealth companies, online pharmacies and medspas, this announcement is a sign that the federal government will actively monitor these entities to ensure consumers are getting genuine, authentic GLP-1s, that consumers are making informed decisions about weight-loss drugs, and that consumers are not being deceived and duped in the frenzy over GLP-1s.
In the complaint, the FTC alleged that New York-based NextMed and its founders sold memberships in its weight-loss programs at advertised monthly prices, but failed to properly disclose: (1) that those membership prices did not actually include either the cost of the GLP-1 drug, the cost of the lab work required to determine eligibility for such drugs, or the cost of the consultation with a medical provider that was necessary to obtain a prescription; or (2) the one-year minimum membership commitment. The FTC also alleged the Company suppressed negative reviews or compensated reviewers, generated and posted fake or falsified positive reviews, and made false and unsubstantiated claims about members’ weight loss to lure new customers. The Consent Order requires NextMed to pay $150,000 in refunds to customers and (1) prohibits the Company from misrepresenting the cost of telehealth services (2) requires competent and reliable evidence to support claims about the average or typical results users will achieve; (3) prohibits misrepresented, falsified, incentivized or manipulated positive reviews and requires disclosure of any familial/employee/financial relationship between the company and the reviewer; (4) requires NextMed to obtain informed consent before billing consumers and authorization to use any electronic fund transfer; and (5) requires NextMed to clearly disclose important terms relating to refunds or cancellations before consumers are asked to pay, provide a simple way for consumers to request cancellations or refunds, and to promptly honor any cancellation or refund requests that comply with policies that were in effect at the time of purchase.
We can expect to see the FTC and other federal and state agencies to continue to use their unfair competition and consumer protection statutes and powers in similar ways. Moreover, while the FTC may not be the agency that approves weight-loss drugs, the NextMed matter demonstrates how the FTC may deploy its extensive enforcement powers and conventional consumer protection tools to new technologies, spaces and products under the Trump administration. Moreover, while the settlement amount may be viewed as relatively low at just $150,000, NextMed is just one start-up telehealth player; larger, nation-wide players engaging in similar conduct can likely expect to see higher and more substantial settlements and/or damages. Finally, what is notable about this action is that it applies the FTC’s concern over the past few years for review manipulation, informed purchasing, and easy click-to-cancel to a new space, product and technology, leveraging the FTC’s deep experience and business guidance around marketing of weight-loss products.