As Compounding Fades, Novo Nordisk Makes Telehealth Deals
Mass market compounding of semaglutide and tirzepatide is pretty much a thing of the past. As that chapter in the story of inadequate access to care closes, it seems that Novo Nordisk is ready to go all in with telehealth deals to make up some lost ground. Their press release spells it out:
“Today, Novo Nordisk announced it is expanding patient access to Wegovy® (semaglutide) injection 2.4 mg by enabling select telehealth providers to work directly through NovoCare® Pharmacy to offer a simplified pathway for self-paying patients seeking access to authentic, FDA-approved Wegovy®. CenterWell Pharmacy is the dispensing pharmacy managing prescription fulfilment and delivery for NovoCare® Pharmacy, which is now allowing direct access to Hims & Hers Health, Inc., LifeMD, and Ro.”
We note that Lilly specifically disclaimed any affiliation with one of those companies – Hims & Hers – which benefited from the Novo telehealth announcement.
Unsettling News
Not long ago, Novo Nordisk was at loggerheads with some of these companies, taking issue with them skirting Novo’s patents and hurting their sales. But now it seems all is forgiven.
Others are not so sure. Mike Albert is an outspoken obesity medicine physician who is also Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Accomplish Health, which provides 100% online obesity care. That makes his company a competitor to those other companies that Novo cozied up with. Yesterday, he wrote on LinkedIn:
“After careful consideration, I have decided to conclude my consulting role with Novo Nordisk. While I respect their efforts to address obesity, I have reservations about the recent partnerships with telehealth companies. Ensuring patient safety and maintaining rigorous clinical standards are paramount, and I believe that certain telehealth models may not adequately uphold these principles.”
Expanding on Albert’s point, Guénolé Addor, also a physician entrepreneur, wrote:
“When profit takes the driver’s seat, patient safety often gets left behind. The industrialization of obesity care through certain telehealth models risks turning complex, chronic conditions into one-click prescriptions. Medicine – especially in the fields of longevity and metabolic health – demands nuance, follow-up, and accountability. Fast doesn’t mean safe. Scalable doesn’t mean ethical.”
Devil in the Details
It is fairly easy to agree that access to care for obesity is dismally poor and that telehealth is part of the solution for improving it. What is not so easy is designing and promoting clear standards for quality care. People seem to know it when they see it, and we hear grave concerns about models of care that sacrifice patient safety and health to make a quick dollar.
The case of litigation against Amazon’s One Medical telehealth clinic for wrongful death comes to mind. Things can go badly wrong in medical care. Finding a high quality provider is no easy task. Many factors come into play and we have direct experience with the challenge of finding good obesity care.
Marketing claims are not enough. We are eager to see real, transparent benchmarks for high quality obesity care – especially in telehealth – that can help people make informed choices. Unfortunately for now, shopping for other complex services (like financial services) is easier.
Click here for Novo’s telehealth partnership announcement, here, here, and here for further perspective.
Video Contact, photograph by Joel Kowsky / Wikimedia Commons
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April 30, 2025
