Telehealth GLP-1 dosing errors are hospitalizing patients: KFF
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES — Patients are being hospitalized after telehealth providers prescribed compounded GLP-1 weight loss drugs at dosing errors of up to nine times the recommended starting amount, a KFF Health News investigation published found.
Patients hospitalized after telehealth GLP-1 errors
Karleigh McClain, 31, of Hendersonville, Tennessee, was hospitalized within 24 hours of her first telehealth-prescribed semaglutide injection — prescribed at 2.21 mg, nearly nine times the typical starting dose.
She experienced severe vomiting, elevated heart rate, and vision problems, with anticipated hospital bills of at least $900.
Leslie Gammon, 54, of Wendell, North Carolina, received a compounded semaglutide dose three times higher than her prior week’s prescription through Amble Health’s online form process. Gammon was hospitalized in Raleigh and owes more than $9,000.
FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System data show GLP-1 medication error reports exploded from more than 2,000 in 2020 to more than 25,000 in 2025.
The National Poison Data System recorded a nearly 1,500% increase in calls about GLP-1 overdoses and side effects since 2019. Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults reported taking a GLP-1 drug in KFF’s 2025 polling.
“It gives a black eye to telemedicine,” said Elizabeth Krupinski, experimental psychologist at Emory University.
Lawsuits mount as oversight gaps persist
The FDA sent warning letters to more than 30 telehealth companies in September 2025 and February 2026 — targeting Hims & Hers, SkinnyRx, Join Josie, and Genesis Health International for false or misleading claims about compounded GLP-1 medications.
Novo Nordisk filed 130 lawsuits against entities marketing compounded semaglutide. Eli Lilly sued telehealth companies including Mochi Health for “deceptive” practices.
The regulatory gap at the center of the crisis: compounded GLP-1 ingredients are not reviewed by the FDA for safety, and many telehealth companies mail prescriptions directly, bypassing pharmacy consultation.
Some platforms use asynchronous evaluations — online forms with no real-time provider conversation — to prescribe the drugs.
“The consent is not adequate,” said Arthur Caplan, bioethics professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Non-diabetic, non-obese GLP-1 prescriptions grew from 4.5% in 2018 to 17% in 2023, according to the New England Journal of Medicine — a trajectory that has outpaced clinical oversight infrastructure.
The healthcare outsourcing sector — a multibillion-dollar industry covering prior authorization support, clinical documentation, telehealth support, and revenue cycle management — provides a structural lever for closing oversight gaps in telehealth-delivered care.
Verifying dosing protocols, managing prior authorization requirements, and auditing prescription workflows across high-volume telehealth platforms are precisely the administrative functions outsourcing firms are built to scale.
