Telehealth Privacy Lawsuit
FTC, States Sue Hims & Hers Over Alleged Privacy Breaches and Deceptive Billing Practices
Anonymous
Key Points
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The FTC alleges Hims & Hers used third‑party tracking technologies beyond Meta and Snap, sharing health data via automated pixels and “Events” on the site with advertisers, including Microsoft Bing, Google, and Reddit.
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Los Angeles County joined the FTC and the states of Utah and California in bringing the lawsuit against Hims & Hers.
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Hims & Hers’ weight‑loss business has involved GLP‑1 medications, and the company reportedly pivoted this year from compounded GLP‑1 drugs to branded options as part of its strategy.
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Financial markets moved on the news, with Hims & Hers’ stock trading down about 12% after the FTC announcement.
The Federal Trade Commission, along with Utah, California, and Los Angeles County, sued telehealth company Hims & Hers on allegations of sharing customers' private health data with advertisers and trapping patients in hard-to-cancel subscriptions, according to HuffPost. The company's stock fell about 12% after the announcement.
Hims & Hers called the allegations "baseless" and accused the FTC of "pursuing headlines," HuffPost reported. The San Francisco-based company said patients can review how their data is handled in its privacy policy.
Health Data Sent to Meta, Google, and Snap Without Warning
The FTC says Hims & Hers used tracking tools called pixels and "Events" on its website. These tools quietly sent visitor data to advertisers, according to Yahoo News. The platforms receiving that data included Meta, Snap, Microsoft Bing, Google, and Reddit.
That data included sensitive health information, such as conditions patients were seeking treatment for. The FTC says the company promised privacy but broke that promise. The complaint also alleges Hims & Hers shared data through customer lists given directly to third-party ad platforms.
Patients Charged Before Doctors Ever Reviewed Their Cases
The FTC also accuses Hims & Hers of charging patients for prescriptions almost immediately after they filled out an intake form. In many cases, a provider had not yet reviewed the patient's health information, according to AOL. That means people were billed before any real medical consultation happened.
On top of that, the FTC says the company made it very hard to cancel. Patients who wanted to stop their subscriptions faced barriers designed to keep them paying. These billing and cancellation tactics are at the center of the deceptive practices claims in the lawsuit.
GLP-1 Weight-Loss Push Added Fuel to Scrutiny
Hims & Hers built a large weight-loss business around GLP-1 drugs, the same class of medications as Ozempic and Wegovy. The company had been selling compounded — or custom-made — versions of these drugs. This year, it pivoted to branded options instead, according to HuffPost.
That pivot drew attention to how the company handles patient data and billing in a fast-growing market. The FTC lawsuit puts those practices under a federal microscope at a critical moment for the direct-to-consumer telehealth industry.
Lawsuit Signals Broader Crackdown on Telehealth Industry
The case is not just about Hims & Hers. It signals that regulators are watching how telehealth companies handle data and money as the industry expands. The FTC joined forces with two states and a major county, showing a coordinated push against practices seen across direct-to-consumer health platforms, according to Yahoo News.
For consumers, the lawsuit raises a key question: when you share health details online to get a prescription, who else sees that information? The FTC says the answer, at least at Hims & Hers, was a long list of advertising companies — none of which patients agreed to share with.
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