GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs - Popular, Powerful — and Potentially Dangerous: North Carolina Woman Overdoses on Weight Loss Medication
The rise of online ‘pill-mills’ where midlevel providers are hired by companies to blindly prescribe powerful medications poses a clear and present danger to public health. Leslie Gammons had used a GLP-1 before, but this time things went wrong. Her online provider increased the dosage and Gammons ended up in the ER after an overdose.
NORTH CAROLINA, USA — They’re easy to access, widely promoted online, and backed by doctors. GLP-1 weight-loss injections are proven to help people shed significant weight.
But as demand explodes, so do the risks — especially when the medications are used without proper medical supervision.
New data shows a dramatic rise in GLP-1–related overdoses and adverse reactions, and one North Carolina woman says she nearly paid with her life.
“I’m not dumb — but I felt dumb”
“I’m not dumb,” said Leslie Gammon, a retired teacher from Wendell. “But I felt dumb that I took that much.”
Gammon is now speaking out after a severe overdose landed her in the hospital for days. She says she wants others to understand the dangers of so-called “do-it-yourself” injectable weight-loss drugs.
“I don’t want this to happen to anybody else,” she said.
A surge in overdoses nationwide
According to the National Poison Data System, run by America’s Poison Centers, calls related to GLP-1 overdoses or serious side effects have skyrocketed nearly 1,500% since 2019.
Between 2019 and 2025, poison centers nationwide recorded nearly 23,000 cases involving GLP-1 medications.
While many cases involve manageable side effects, some patients — like Gammon — end up hospitalized.
A prescription — without a doctor visit
Gammon began taking an injectable GLP-1 weight-loss drug in 2025 through a virtual healthcare company called Amble. She says she never met a doctor in person — not even through a live video visit.
“All I had was a phone call, but it was a recording telling me to go online and ‘do this and this and this,’” Gammon said.
Amble connected her with a physician who prescribed weekly semaglutide injections, starting at a low dose. After two injections, Gammon said she woke up ravenous — craving pizza — and felt the medication wasn’t working.
That’s when, she says, her dose was dramatically increased.
Gammon said a doctor associated with Amble instructed her to double the dose —
and to fill her syringe with five times more of a stronger formulation.
Concerned, she emailed the company for clarification.
“They were like, ‘Just follow the doctor’s orders,’” she said. “‘This is the max dose that you can take.’”
Uncomfortable, Gammon says she stopped short of taking the full amount. She believes that decision saved her life.
(Original Story: CBS WFMY2 News)