FTC Approves Final Order against Telehealth Provider NextMed Over Charges It Used Deceptive Advertising Claims to Sell GLP-1 Weight-Loss Programs

The Federal Trade Commission has given final approval to an order against telemedicine company NextMed and its principals, requiring them to stop deceptively advertising weight-loss programs and to stop using deceptive and unfair billing and cancellation practices.

In its July 2025 complaint, the FTC alleged that NextMed, Robert Epstein, and Frank Leonardo exploited skyrocketing interest in prescription glucagon-like peptide 1 agonist (GLP-1) weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic. The FTC alleged they sold weight-loss programs with undisclosed costs and membership commitments, making unsubstantiated claims about the weight loss achieved by their clients, using fake testimonials, and unfairly distorting consumer reviews. The firm and its principals also failed to process cancellation and refund requests in a timely manner and failed to obtain express informed consent before charging consumers or making recurring debits, according to the complaint.

The final order requires NextMed, Epstein, and Leonardo to pay $150,000, which is expected to be used to provide refunds to consumers. The final order also:

• prohibits them from misrepresenting the cost of telehealth services;
• requires competent and reliable evidence to support claims about the average or typical results users will achieve;
• prohibits misrepresentations that reviews are truthful or from real consumers, and requires disclosure of any unexpected material connection with endorsers or reviewers;
• prohibits manipulation of reviews;
• requires them to obtain informed consent before billing consumers and authorization to use any electronic fund transfer; and
• requires them to clearly disclose important terms relating to refunds or cancellations before consumers are asked to pay, provide a simple way for consumers to request cancellations or refunds, and to promptly honor any cancellation or refund requests that comply with policies that were in effect at the time of purchase.

Following a public comment period, the Commission voted 2-0 to approve the final consent order and send responses to commenters.