Leslie Gammon was one of them \u2014 until she endured a frightening overdose of a compounded GLP-1 drug that sent her to the hospital. The North Carolina woman said she had followed the dosing instructions from her telehealth company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t stop throwing up, and it was like every 20 minutes,\u201d Gammon, 54, told NBC\u2019s Anne Thompson about the ordeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was hurting, I mean, it hurt. I couldn\u2019t talk like nearly a week after, my ribs felt like they were being beaten up.\u201d<\/p>\n
From 2019 to 2025, there was an almost 1,500% increase in calls related to an overdose or side effects of injectable GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, according to the National Poison Data System from America\u2019s Poison Centers<\/a>. There were almost 23,000 cases during that period. The data does not specify whether calls were related to a telehealth prescription versus in-person.<\/p>\n Any medication can be overdosed, so patients need to trust there\u2019s a system in place to protect them, said Dr. Fatima Syed, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University and a medical weight management specialist at Duke Health in Durham, North Carolina.<\/p>\n While GLP-1 overdoses can also happen after in-person appointments, Syed said that when she prescribes a drug, there\u2019s a framework of safety checks \u2014 whether at the doctor\u2019s office or the pharmacy \u2014 which may not be there if the only communication or follow-up care patients get in a telehealth setting is done via a click in a text or email.<\/p>\n \u201cObesity weight is a complex problem. Is a click enough oversight for your management of your high blood pressure, diabetes? The answer is no,\u201d Syed said. \u201cYour body and your weight deserve the same clinical oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n Injection Leads to Hospitalization<\/p>\n Gammon had turned to two different telehealth companies to get a GLP-1 medication to help her lose weight during menopause<\/a>. She chose them over her doctor\u2019s office because she liked the easy access and convenience of not having to make in-person appointments. <\/p>\n Both companies sent her a vial and syringe, rather than an autoinjector pen, to measure out and self-inject the drug once a week.<\/p>\n The first telehealth company she tried was \u201cphenomenal,\u201d with phone calls and Zoom sessions with a doctor, Gammon said. She lost 18 pounds in four months.<\/p>\n A friend then recommended Amble, another telehealth company, and Gammon signed up in October 2025. This time, the communication was all done through email, she said.<\/p>\n She received a vial with a low dose of a compounded GLP-1 drug from the company, but after using it for two weeks, it didn\u2019t seem to curb her hunger, so Gammon emailed to say it wasn\u2019t doing anything for her. That\u2019s when she received a second vial, and instructions to inject about five times more of the drug than she previously had \u2014 46 units in the syringe rather than the 8 units she was used to.<\/p>\n \u201cThat sort of scared me,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI contacted the doctor, and I said this seems to be a little bit more than what I\u2019m supposed to be taking. And then the response I got back, I think a day later, was just follow the doctor\u2019s directions.\u201d<\/p>\n Still leery, Gammon injected herself with 30 units. Two hours later, she began throwing up violently several times an hour. The vomiting lasted from Sunday night until Tuesday afternoon. Her boyfriend took her to urgent care, then the emergency room.<\/p>\n \u201cI asked the doctor if I could be put in a coma until it was over,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n Gammon spent three days in the hospital. Medical staff told her boyfriend she\u2019d had a GLP-1 overdose, something she didn\u2019t know was possible, \u201cespecially when it came from a doctor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n It took a month before Gammon could keep solid food down. She hasn\u2019t returned to a GLP-1 drug since, losing weight on her own with diet and exercise.<\/p>\n When asked who is responsible for the ordeal, she blames both the telehealth physician and herself.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the doctor. I think it was a mistake. They\u2019re human, they make mistakes. But myself, too, as well. I should have educated myself more,\u201d Gammon said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not dumb. I mean, I have a college degree. I should have known.\u201d<\/p>\n Gammon is now stuck with a $9,000 hospital bill from the ordeal. She contacted Amble, the telehealth company, about it, but hasn\u2019t heard back.<\/p>\n Amble told NBC that it doesn\u2019t comment on specific individuals or confirm whether or not they use the company\u2019s platform, but that patient safety and well-being are its highest priorities. <\/p>\n \u201cOur independent, third-party provider group and its licensed providers follow evidence-based clinical protocols, from initial consultation through ongoing patient monitoring and follow-up,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cAmble encourages patients to maintain open, ongoing communication with their provider throughout the course of their care, including through 24\/7 messaging and regularly scheduled check-ins. Amble\u2019s platform is designed to support providers in their delivery of responsible, high-quality telehealth care consistent with applicable clinical standards.\u201d<\/p>\n Doctors Urge Caution<\/p>\n NBC News and KFF Health News have identified other similar cases<\/a>.<\/p>\n While GLP-1 overdoses can happen even when patients speak to a doctor, Syed urged people considering using a telehealth option for GLP-1 drugs to choose a company where it\u2019s easy to reach a medical professional.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing is to look for that it\u2019s not a simply one-click process, but that you have a medical provider that\u2019s talking to you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have a question, who do you ask? Who\u2019s on call for you? And that there\u2019s clarity of communication, and really that you\u2019re not alone at all in the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Syed also advised people to understand the difference between brand-name weight loss drugs, like Wegovy and Zepbound, which are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and compounded GLP-1 drugs, which are cheaper and often offered by telehealth companies, but are not reviewed by the FDA for safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s much more clarity for me on what exactly is in the (brand-name) medications, and therefore what the reactions might be,\u201d Syed said.<\/p>\n With compounded drugs, patients have reported accidentally taking 10 times the recommended dose due to \u201cconfusing measurement units while using a syringe,\u201d America\u2019s Poison Centers noted on its website.<\/p>\n Overdose symptoms may be similar to the common side effects of GLP-1 drugs, such as nausea and vomiting, but last longer or lead to dehydration in severe cases, the organization added on its website.<\/p>\n The Alliance for Compounded Pharmacies said in an April 2026 statement<\/a> in part that \u201cthe increased demand for GLP-1 medications has led to … mass-produced copies (of drugs) operating in regulatory gray areas.\u201d It added that this trend falls outside \u201clegitimate, regulated\u201d compounding practices, such as customizing medications for individual patient needs and providing access in shortages.<\/p>\n The group called for \u201cstronger oversight where risks exist, transparency in sourcing and formulation (and) accountability for unsafe practices,\u201d while preserving access to \u201clegitimate compounding.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Novo Nordisk, which makes semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy; and Eli Lilly, the maker of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound, warn about medications claiming to be the compounded versions of brand-name GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.<\/p>\n Eli Lilly has \u201crepeatedly expressed grave concerns about the safety of mass-compounded knockoffs of our tirzepatide medicines,\u201d the company notes<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Leslie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/patient-glp-1-overdose-03-mh-07152026-fd3c9d.jpg\")
Leslie Gammon was hospitalized for three days after overdosing on a GLP-1 medication.Courtesy Leslie Gammon<\/p>\n![\"Leslie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/patient-glp-1-overdose-02-mh-07152026-17bcf9.jpg\")
Leslie Gammon has used two different telehealth platforms to get GLP-1 drugs, but since her overdose, has stopping using the medications altogether.Courtesy Leslie Gammon<\/p>\n![\"Gammon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/patient-glp-1-overdose-01-mh-07152026-011f1e.jpg\")
Gammon is down 7 pounds since stopping GLP-1 medications thanks to diet and exercise.Courtesy Leslie Gammon<\/p>\n