FTC Finalizes Action Against Telehealth Provider NextMed for Deceptive GLP-1 Weight-Loss Advertising, Citing Unfair Billing and Fake Reviews

What this means for your practice

This FTC action against NextMed, alongside the separate action against Hims & Hers, sends a clear and strong message to the entire telehealth and direct-to-consumer healthcare industry. Practices, including medspas, dental practices, and chiropractic offices expanding into telehealth, must critically review their advertising, billing, and patient privacy protocols. The FTC is actively scrutinizing claims made, especially regarding popular treatments like GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, as well as the transparency and fairness of business operations. Key areas of vulnerability highlighted are unsubstantiated efficacy claims, the authenticity of patient testimonials and reviews, clear disclosure of costs and membership commitments, timely processing of cancellations and refunds, and obtaining explicit informed consent before any charges are made or sensitive data is shared. Compliance with these consumer protection principles is not optional and will be enforced, impacting providers' financial liabilities and reputational standing.

Washington D.C. – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced in December 2025 the final approval of an order against telehealth company NextMed and its principals, Robert Epstein and Frank Leonardo. This action addresses a comprehensive set of allegations, including deceptive advertising for weight-loss programs, the use of fake reviews, and unfair billing and cancellation practices. The final order mandates a payment of $150,000 for consumer refunds and implements strict prohibitions to prevent future deceptive conduct.

Allegations of Deceptive Practices and Unfair Billing

According to the FTC's July 2025 complaint, NextMed, Epstein, and Leonardo were accused of capitalizing on the surging interest in prescription glucagon-like peptide 1 agonist (GLP-1) weight-loss drugs, such as Wegovy and Ozempic. The complaint outlined several key areas of alleged misconduct:

• Deceptive Advertising: Selling weight-loss programs with undisclosed costs and membership commitments.
• Unsubstantiated Claims: Making claims about the weight loss achieved by clients without competent and reliable scientific evidence to support them.
• Manipulated Reviews: Employing fake testimonials and unfairly distorting genuine consumer reviews to promote their services.
• Billing Without Consent: Failing to obtain express informed consent before charging consumers or initiating recurring debits.
• Unfair Cancellation Practices: Failing to process cancellation and refund requests in a timely and transparent manner.

Terms of the Final Order

The final order imposes significant requirements on NextMed and its principals to rectify past misconduct and prevent its recurrence. These include:

• Prohibition on Misrepresentation of Costs: Banning the misrepresentation of the true cost of telehealth services.
• Evidence for Claims: Requiring competent and reliable evidence to substantiate any claims made about the average or typical results users will achieve from their programs.
• Transparency in Reviews: Prohibiting misrepresentations that reviews are truthful or from real consumers. It also mandates the disclosure of any unexpected material connection with endorsers or reviewers.
• No Review Manipulation: Explicitly prohibiting the manipulation of consumer reviews.
• Informed Consent for Billing: Requiring informed consent before billing consumers and explicit authorization for any electronic fund transfers.
• Clear Refund and Cancellation Policies: Mandating clear disclosure of important terms related to refunds or cancellations before consumers are asked to pay. Furthermore, they must provide a simple and accessible way for consumers to request cancellations or refunds and promptly honor all legitimate requests in accordance with their policies.

The $150,000 payment required by the order is specifically earmarked for providing refunds to affected consumers.

Broader FTC Scrutiny of Telehealth: The Hims & Hers Action

This enforcement action against NextMed is part of a broader trend of increased scrutiny by the FTC into the telehealth sector's consumer protection practices. In a separate, but related, development in July 2026, the FTC, in conjunction with the states of Utah and California (by and through Los Angeles County Counsel), filed a complaint against another prominent telehealth provider, Hims & Hers. This action alleges that Hims & Hers shared consumers’ sensitive health information with third-party advertising platforms despite promising patient privacy. The complaint also asserts that Hims & Hers deceives users about its billing and cancellation practices by charging consumers for prescriptions almost immediately after intake form submission, contrary to promises of consulting with a medical provider to find suitable treatment.

Implications for the Telehealth Industry

The FTC's actions against both NextMed and Hims & Hers underscore the critical importance of robust consumer protection measures in the rapidly evolving telehealth landscape. These cases highlight key areas of regulatory focus:

• Truth in Advertising: All promotional materials, especially those concerning health outcomes or specific medical treatments (like GLP-1s), must be truthful, non-deceptive, and backed by competent, reliable evidence.
• Transparency in Pricing and Terms: Full disclosure of all costs, membership commitments, and terms for cancellation and refunds is essential before consumers commit to services.
• Authenticity of Reviews: Practices must ensure that all testimonials and reviews are genuine and that any material connections with endorsers are clearly disclosed.
• Informed Consent: Obtaining explicit, informed consent for all billing practices and electronic fund transfers is paramount.
• Privacy of Health Information: Telehealth providers must uphold their privacy promises and protect sensitive health information from unauthorized sharing, particularly with third-party advertising platforms.

These enforcement actions serve as a critical reminder for all healthcare businesses operating in the telehealth space to regularly review and update their advertising, billing, and privacy policies to ensure full compliance with federal consumer protection laws.

Key Facts

| Detail | Value | |---|---| | Action Finalized Date (NextMed) | December 3, 2025 | | Alleged Deceptive Claims (NextMed) | Undisclosed costs/commitments, unsubstantiated weight-loss claims for GLP-1s, fake testimonials, unfair review distortion, failure to timely process cancellations/refunds, lack of informed consent for charges. | | Penalty (NextMed) | $150,000 for consumer refunds | | Order Prohibitions (NextMed) | Misrepresenting costs, requiring evidence for claims, preventing review manipulation, requiring informed consent for billing, clear refund/cancellation terms. | | Related FTC Action (Hims & Hers) Date | July 29, 2026 | | Alleged Deceptive Conduct (Hims & Hers) | Shared sensitive health information with third-party advertising platforms, deceptive billing by charging immediately after intake form without clear consultation. |

Frequently Asked Questions

What specific advertising practices did NextMed engage in that were deemed deceptive?

NextMed allegedly advertised weight-loss programs with undisclosed costs and membership commitments, made unsubstantiated claims about the weight loss achieved by clients using GLP-1 drugs, and utilized fake testimonials while unfairly distorting consumer reviews.

What were the billing and cancellation issues with NextMed?

NextMed was accused of failing to process cancellation and refund requests in a timely manner and failing to obtain express informed consent before charging consumers or initiating recurring debits for services.

What does the final order require NextMed to do regarding advertising claims?

The final order requires NextMed to stop misrepresenting the cost of telehealth services, and to provide competent and reliable evidence to support any claims about the average or typical results users will achieve from their programs.

How must NextMed handle consumer reviews and testimonials going forward?

NextMed is prohibited from misrepresenting that reviews are truthful or from real consumers, must disclose any unexpected material connection with endorsers or reviewers, and is explicitly prohibited from manipulating reviews.

Beyond NextMed, what other recent FTC action is relevant to telehealth providers?

The FTC, along with Utah and California, took action against Hims & Hers alleging that the telehealth provider shared consumers’ sensitive health information with third-party advertising platforms despite privacy promises, and that it engaged in deceptive billing by charging consumers almost immediately after they submitted an intake form without a promised consultation.

Source: ftc.gov — FTC Finalizes Action Against NextMed for Deceptive Weight-Loss Advertising