Cotton wants the FDA to investigate Chinese drug ingredients in weight loss pills
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FIRST ON FOX: Senate Republicans want the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate whether illegal Chinese ingredients are making their way into weight loss medications in the United States.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has called on FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to investigate the extent to which unregulated and illegal Chinese medicinal ingredients have infiltrated the US supply chain — and whether they have ended up in popular weight-loss drugs.
“China’s access to the American pharmaceutical supply chain presents a national security risk and a health risk to American patients,” Cotton wrote in a letter to Makary first obtained by Fox News Digital.
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Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called on FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to investigate how widespread illegal and unregulated Chinese medicine ingredients are in the US, and how widespread they are in non-FDA regulated weight loss drugs. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Cotton’s concern follows recent reports from the FDA and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that between September 2023 and January 2025, authorities intercepted illegal shipments of 195 pharmaceutical ingredients.
He noted that the ingredients “may be used in compounded weight loss medications” entering the US market. Of those goods, about 60 are from China and Hong Kong.
“It is estimated that as of January 2026, up to 1.5 million American patients may be using over-the-counter weight loss medications that may contain dangerous ingredients from Chinese manufacturers,” Cotton wrote.
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Americans are turning to dangerous unregulated sellers of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. (Stock)
The ingredients are often used in compounded versions of GLP-1 weight loss drugs that are marketed as some of the FDA-approved drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that it would refer the health company Hims & Hers to the Department of Justice for “potential violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act” regarding its planned sale of a compounded weight loss drug, which is not approved by the FDA.
Makary similarly said that the FDA “will take serious action to restrict GLP-1 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) intended for use in non-FDA approved compounded medicines that are widely marketed by companies – including Hims & Hers and other compounding pharmacies – as alternatives to FDA approved medicines.”
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The company announced last week that it would withdraw its weight loss pill, billed as a cheaper alternative to Wegovy, from the market following growing pressure from government agencies.
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Cotton acknowledged the move and called for a similar investigation.
“I encourage further investigation into other organizations that are exposing American patients to dangerous, unregulated Chinese APIs,” Cotton wrote.
