Comment by terminalshort
17 days ago
You had the choice to go the expensive route and you took it. Don't tell other people they can't make their own choices too.
17 days ago
You had the choice to go the expensive route and you took it. Don't tell other people they can't make their own choices too.
Personally I feel the hims etc of this world need to go away. They give a false sense of security and they mask an incredibly shady industry.
I also think people should be able to source from the grey market if they can figure it out. This means they understand the risks and likely take measures like ensuring their compounds are properly tested before injecting them.
I’d feel differently if I didn’t understand how the average medspa gets their product and the corners they cut. I honestly trust some outright black market dealers better than most of those shops. They actually do testing on their product before shipping it. Likely sourced from exactly the same manufacturer as the guy in the locker room buys from.
So long as the choices are informed I agree. The issue is hims/hers puts a fancy veneer of “sanctioned medical system” on top of what amounts to a black market. They are laundering and obscuring the risk and many patients simply do not understand this fact.
It’s the difference between buying Xanax from a legit pharmacy vs a street dealer. The street dealer transaction you understand the risks involved and are making an informed decision. If you thought you were buying from a legit pharmaceutical company but they ended up just rebranding the same shit the street dealer is selling from his wholesaler - that is not informed consent even a little bit.
There is something in the middle here but some HLPC testing I’ve seen of supposed legit compounding pharmacies hasn’t been great for these drugs.
Their industry is only shady because lots of fairly harmless drugs require a prescription. Viagra, the GLPs, and minoxidi+finasteride come to mind.
For a long time in this country, a flesh-eating bacteria infection required an amputation. In Russia and Eastern Europe, it was easily treatable with bacteriophages and people normally kept their limbs. There's still no process for approving a bacteriophage treatment in this country for general use.
Our system is ossified to protect big pharma and doctors. Liberalization is needed; hims and their like need to be regulated, but with a lighter touch than the current requirements.
Can you quote from the five sentences I wrote where I said anything about telling people what to do? I simply noted that my medical provider has first-hand experience with people getting questionable results from unregulated GLP-1s.