[yold__]

Semaglutide / GLP-1 compounding is not limited to just Hims. Lot's of pharmacies do it. The manufacturer (Novo Nordisk) charges 5x-10x for the exact same thing. The author calls the GLP-1s used in compounding "Chinese Knockoffs", but offers no evidence of quality control problems, and is instead relying on the reader's prejudices.

GLP-1 drugs may be a game-changer for obesity and diabetes, the same way that cholesterol (statin) drugs have greatly improved heart health. Hopefully reversing a long trend of increasing waistbands in developed / developing countries. Unfortunately, America will pay the highest price (including Medicare). I'm all for anything that makes them cheaper, including the many compounding pharmacies currently exploiting the loophole the author takes issue with.

[827a]

Agreed. The number of times the article specifically calls out "shady Chinese knockoffs" is honestly, actually, racism. If there's evidence that Hims' drugs are harmful: Present it. The article doesn't. I know tons of people who have used Hims and companies like it, for a variety of things. I'm aware of no specific or general problems anyone has had with their medication.

[selfhoster11]

China provably has seen issues with adulteration of food: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal

That is not to say that Hims's drugs were unsafe, or that they even came from China to begin with. What I am saying, is that it's not racism to mention that Chinese products are, in fact, occasionally shady (of poor quality).

[throw10920]

> The number of times the article specifically calls out "shady Chinese knockoffs" is honestly, actually, racism.

Factually incorrect. A country is not a race. You cannot be racist against a country, by definition, and China in particular has a very well-documented pattern of making low-quality clones of products from other countries (often using IP stolen from those countries), so the concern is well-justified.

More generally, the use of "racism" as a response to well-justified concerns about products of a country is completely irredeemable. It's logically invalid, emotionally manipulative, breaks the HN guidelines, is blatantly anti-intellectual, and is mostly used as a propaganda technique by state actors. Please keep this drivel off of platforms like HN that are designed for intellectual curiosity.

[kridsdale1]

Truthfully China is the source for a huge amount of “legitimate” generic and brand name patent protected drugs.

China produces things. Of high quality as well as low. More and more, it’s the only source for high quality things.

The OP’s conniption is about intellectual property and monopoly protection, not health.

Everyone in the world (almost) would be far healthier with weekly injections of Chinese chemicals.

[beejiu]

Isn't the point of regulation to set the bar you must prove you meet, rather than a bar you must prove others haven't met?

[atombender]

There are concerns around safety. Compounding is somewhat controversial because they produce versions of FDA-approved drugs that are not FDA-approved, and may use chemical formulations (such as semaglutide salts) that aren't FDA-approved. [1]

The problem isn't that compounding pharmacies provide cheap versions of the same drug, it's that the compounding process doesn't produce exactly the same drug, and hasn't undergone the same stringent quality controls as Wegovy etc.

Ideally, these drugs should be cheap. The compounding is only done because there's a loophole that provides a market opportunity. The correct solution would be to improve the regulations in a way that would let more manufacturers produce safe generics.

[1] https://www.goodrx.com/classes/glp-1-agonists/compounded-sem...

[Spooky23]

The problem with your position is simple: where does it come from?

The legit path for compounded semaglutide is buying up Rybelsus, impacting the supply for diabetics. Compounding pharmacies are notoriously shady, and are likely using grey market materials from questionable sources.

[bevr1337]

> Compounding pharmacies are notoriously shady, and are likely using grey market materials from questionable sources.

Are they? Compounding pharmacies are common and boring. If someone hasn't yet used a compounding pharmacy then it's likely they're in very good health -- yay for them!

What's being described doesn't feel like an issue with compounding rather folks setting up shop to peddle questionable drugs.

[bickfordb]

Is there evidence that compounded Semaglutide from Hims pharmacies has harmed anyone?

[jrflowers]

Can you give some specific examples of compounding pharmacies buying up Rybelsus or using grey market GLP-1