Four more med spa licenses yanked over improper handling of cosmetic drugs

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy has suspended four more distribution licenses, accusing two med spas and two doctor’s offices of illegally dispensing drugs for weight loss and cosmetic procedures.

The allegations include distributing drugs with Chinese and Korean labels from firms not registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, drugs that were labeled in the clinic and drugs prescribed for a clinic’s owner, but put into its stock. The clinic stopped using one drug when patients said “it burned,” a board of pharmacy inspection report said.

The suspensions bring to more than 10 the number of such licenses the pharmacy board has suspended this year on similar allegations. As markets boom for lucrative GLP-1 weight-loss drugs as well as those for other cosmetic procedures, observers have said it’s created a wild-west atmosphere among the clinics that sell them.

The weight-loss drugs are similar to Ozempic and Wegovy, and as demand for them has soared, so have shortages and concerns that the people most in need can’t get them. There are also worries that improperly formulated drugs might be used and that the unscrupulous might be cashing in. 

The drugs carry an average annual list price of $12,000, according to the Peterson KFF Health Tracker.

On Tuesday, the pharmacy board issued an order to summarily suspend the drug-distribution license of Enbody in Shaker Heights after a June 5 inspection.

“The inspection revealed Enbody was in possession of illegal drugs,” the order said. “These drugs were purchased from illegitimate entities that are not licensed wholesale drug distributors or drug manufacturers in the United States and do not have Food and Drug Administration (FDA) manufacturer registration. These drugs are counterfeit and/or ‘For Research Use Only’ and these drugs are not FDA-approved medications.”

Among the drugs listed were tirzepatide, semaglutide, liraglutide and retatrutide, all weight-loss drugs that diminish appetite. 

“Enbody purchased dangerous drugs direct from multiple unlicensed manufacturers in China and from the Amazon website,” the report said.

Inspectors also found drugs labeled “for research use only.”  In January, the board suspended licenses to distribute dangerous drugs held by clinics in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. It accused them of giving patients weight-loss drugs that were labeled “for research use only” and that came from “an unlicensed out-of-state-seller.”

At Enbody, inspectors also said they found vials of bacteriostatic water purchased off of Amazon, but not through its pharmacy. It’s supposed to be a sterile solution for use in injecting drugs. But an official at the clinic said she stopped using it because patients said “it burned,” the report said.

The board of pharmacy also suspended:

• Hyperbaric Therapy of Dublin — Inspectors said they found unapproved drugs, including mistletoe extract, curcumin, and oak extract. They also said that “drugs prescribed to the clinic’s owner, Christopher Dodson, had been ordered and shipped from a 503A compounding pharmacy. These patient-specific dangerous drugs were then being utilized as office drug stock.”
• Dermatology, Laser and Vein Center, Montgomery — Inspectors said they found the cosmetic drug liporase, which isn’t approved by the FDA and was purchased from a supplier not licensed by the board of pharmacy. An invoice said three vials had been purchased, and the person running the clinic claimed they were never used. She said two had been destroyed, but could produce no record of their destruction, the report said.
• Zinni Family Practice, Canfield — Inspectors said they found several different cosmetic skin drugs that weren’t FDA approved, seven expired drugs of other types, and problems with documentation and storage.

Meanwhile, the FDA seems to be undermining its own mission to ensure that drugs are safe. Last week, the news organization ProPublica reported that for more than 12 years, a secretive group within the agency has at times overruled inspectors of overseas “factories with mold, foul water, dirty labs or fraudulent testing protocols.” The internal group allowed those factories to ship drugs to the United States anyway, the story said.