A secret shopper study found that most online sellers of GLP-1 agonists approved prescriptions based solely on patient questionnaires.A handful of websites offered no opportunity to ask a clinician questions.Limited clinician engagement may increase risks of medical and financial harms, the researchers warned.
Two-thirds of online GLP-1 receptor agonist sellers did not require speaking with a clinician ahead of a prescription, a secret shopper study revealed.
Out of 49 websites tested, 13 required a video visit and three required a phone call, typically lasting under 10 minutes. Four offered no opportunity to ask a clinician questions, reported Reshma Ramachandran, MD, MPP, MHS, of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues.
Instead, the majority of these platforms relied on patient-reported questionnaires that may fail to capture crucial clinical and social histories, the researchers warned in JAMA.
This very limited clinician involvement was even lower than anticipated, said Ramachandran and co-author Ashwin Chetty, an MD Candidate at Yale.
