Advocacy and Support for GLP-1s with Amanda Bonello

The GLP-1 Collective supports individuals using GLP-1 medications by removing barriers to access, offering financial assistance, educating and empowering patients, and building a community where no one feels alone in their journey.

Website: https://glp1studio.substack.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amanda.bonello?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanda.bonell0/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/glp1collective/posts/?feedView=all

This conversation was recorded May 2025, therefore some details may be outdated. However, the lessons learned and resources shared are still impactful and important. 

Searching for help during a GLP-1 shortage, Amanda Bonello ran into a maze of half-truths, stigma, and unsafe workarounds—and decided to build the resource she couldn’t find. We sit down with Amanda, CEO and founder of the GLP1 Collective, to explore how a patient-led movement is taking on barriers to safe, affordable access while giving people a trusted home for education and support.

We unpack the stakes behind the headlines: when insurance cuts coverage without warning, many patients don’t chase “summer abs”—they fight to walk without pain, keep inflammation in check, and hold onto hard-won health. From black market peptides and DIY mixing to cross-border pharmacy runs, scarcity pushes vulnerable people toward risky choices. We talk through why access is a health equity issue, how stigma keeps treatment underground, and what patent thickets and prior authorizations mean for real lives.

There’s real progress here, too. The Collective’s petition has drawn tens of thousands of signatures and national media attention, and a HIPAA-compliant prescription access program is ready to launch once it meets a $20,000 funding threshold. The model is direct and accountable: verify a prescription, load a restricted-use card for pharmacy medications, and keep patients on therapy safely. Alongside that, the team offers monthly support groups, live Q&As with obesity specialists and dietitians, practical “newbie kits,” daily updates via Discord, and a fall advocacy trip to Washington, DC to put patient stories in front of decision-makers.

If access, safety, and dignity in obesity care matter to you, this conversation is a roadmap and a rallying cry. Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more listeners find evidence-based metabolic health guidance.

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Transcript

Welcome And Mission

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 0:00

Welcome to the Modern Metabolic Health Podcast with your host, Dr. Lindsay Ogle, Board Certified Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine Physician. Here we learn how we can treat and prevent modern metabolic conditions such as diabetes, PCOS, fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, and more. We focus on optimizing lifestyle while utilizing safe and effective medical treatments. Please remember that while I am a physician, I am not your physician. Everything discussed here is provided as general medical knowledge and not direct medical advice. Please talk to your doctor about what is best for you. We actually met on a podcast together. Fate brought us together, and we have just continued to get to know each other over the past couple of months. And it's been wonderful to see everything that she's done in this short time. So I can't wait for her to share with you what's been going on.

Amanda Bonello 1:21

Hello, I'm Amanda Bonello. I am the CEO and founder of the GLP1 Collective, which is a nonprofit that is dedicated to affordable access and supporting patients who are using GLP1 medications through educational resources, support groups, and um fighting stigma.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 1:41

That's it.

Amanda Bonello 1:41

That's all.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 1:42

Not too much.

Amanda’s Origin Story

Amanda Bonello 1:45

Well, it's an ever-evolving um field to be in. I can tell you that. Things are constantly changing. And with that said, programs are constantly being rolled out and tested out. So there's so much in the works. Like if stuff isn't happening right now, it will be happening tomorrow, next week, next year, in the future. We're just going to keep growing.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 2:10

Yeah, amazing. Amazing. Well, I can't wait to see where it takes you. Um, I would love to hear, you know, what really uh got you started down this path. Did you always know you were going to have a nonprofit? Um, I'd love to hear more.

Petition And Media Momentum

Amanda Bonello 2:27

So thank you for having me on to give me a voice, to have it be heard to um more people who might not know that we existed otherwise. So I want to say thank you for that first. The reason why I started the nonprofit, um, back in October, Terzepatide, compound terzepatide was taken off of the shortage list for just one short week. At that time, I had just started looking into taking it for the first time. And I'm looking for resources, and I can't find anything, like solid. Like there's tidbits here and there, there's all of these different websites with like these are the side effects and whatever, but nothing that was like a dedicated space. And all of these community resources, like Reddit, which is where I went first, because I feel like you get legitimate answers there. Like people are not filtered, they will tell you like it is. So I go to Reddit and people are freaking out. They're going to the black market, they're using research peptides and mixing them themselves. They are stockpiling for a whole year. And at this point, I'm like, I don't even know if it's gonna be good a year from now if it's already compounded. Um, it was crazy. It was like the Wild West. So I had no resources myself, and the uncertainty around whether or not this medication was going to be officially cut off was just like looming. There was no sheriff in town. Um, so that's when I really started looking. Like, someone has to be doing something about this because we're gonna get cut off. And I couldn't find any dedicated space with a group of people that were working together, an advocacy group that was fighting for GLP ones specifically. And that was when I was like, okay, we need a petition. So I started the petition to fight for affordable access to GLP ones, and a lot of people actually gave me pushback and were just saying, go gray, just go gray, just give up, and you're never gonna beat Big Pharma. And I'm like, petitions work, they might not work by themselves, but they build a platform for advocacy to bring people together. So we have, we're like this close to 27,000 signatures now. So, so close. If we could just get like 10 more. But it's very exciting. And because of that petition, we got seven media mentions, and we have two more coming out, one with Reuters and one with Wired. So we're gonna have, and we're just gonna keep having more media mentions. But all of those were for the petition, except for one that specifically talked about our nonprofit. So that was exciting because I was like, our little baby nonprofit got its media debut. Um, but it was during that time that I was like, okay, we need a podcast, we need community members to be able to tell their stories so that people can hear how important this medication is because the stigma is so strong. And the amount of people taking this medication in secret is just outrageous because of the stigma. And so I'm like, okay, we need a podcast. There's a lot of podcasts with people interviewing professionals, but we need community members to have a voice. And on top of that, we need to explain why affordable access is important. Because even first coming into this space, I was like, oh my gosh, these people have had these life-changing experiences, people who like were in pain getting out of bed. One woman I spoke with literally broke all of the tendons in one of her ankles just from getting out of bed. She took a step, they all broke. Now she has a metal ankle. That was Gianna Beasley, actually. She's a dietitian. I don't know if you know Gianna Beasley. She has a podcast too. Okay, I have to check it out. Yes. But um, the GLP one has been life-saving for so many people. People who were in too much pain or too heavy to work out are doing half marathons now. And as an obesity specialist, uh you can agree that chronic illness doesn't just go away when you lose all that weight, it comes comes back. The majority of the time it comes back. And I it didn't really affect me very much at the time because I had just started. I was like one week in, and I'm like, oh, this is what food noise is. Um it hadn't even really affected me yet. But when I thought about all of the people who could potentially be losing access, that was a call to action for me. And I I have been moved to fight for the people ever since then. So that's how our um nonprofit was born. From there, I incorporated the nonprofit January 10th. In February, we got tax exempt status. And we have two partners now. We have a partnership with Pure Way, the Sharps Disposal um company. They are fantastic. They've donated not only Sharps containers for safe disposal, but they've also donated financially to help us provide um newbie kits, like newbie welcome kits to patients who are new to GLP ones. So that's exciting. So we're gonna give them sharps containers and like little welcome bag, like here's your protein bars, here's a cute little natural groceries bag stuffed with socks and like water bottles, things that you wouldn't know that you needed on a GLP one until you were really cold and dehydrated. And natural grocers is donating bags and um coupon books. And I'm just I've been very fortunate to be connected with people like you and um other professionals in the healthcare space who uh genuinely care about patients. So that's where we're at now.

Why Affordable Access Matters

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 8:41

Wow. Wow. So that has taken quite the journey, and I'm sure you had no idea everything that you were going to take on when you started down this path. You were just looking for some answers and saw a real need and then you know filled that void. And I absolutely agree. I mean, it's great that the information I think is out there, but it's so difficult when it's in all of these isolated pockets of the internet or you know, different books, or you hear pieces of it from different specialists. But to have a go-to place is like a game changer because you know, you just whenever a question comes up or an issue arises, you can go to your trusted source and you know get what you need. And so I think that that's wonderful, especially as you know, I'm trained in family medicine and primary care, and that's you know how we approach things. We you know, hope people can come to us with all of their problems and we can at least get things started to, you know, get worked up or feel better. And so I have that mindset as well. Um and I was also thinking when you talked about when you were just talking like back in the fall about people going to the black market or people are talking about the gray market and mixing peptides and using experimental, you know, drugs and compounds. This is something, you know, as an obesity medicine physician in practice, I'm not, I wasn't hearing about, especially at that time. Um because I don't see it. And like you said, people are taking medications in secrets, and they're not gonna tell me. I don't think most people are going to tell like their primary care doctor that they're you know getting this medication off of this website. Um, and so I I didn't know that that stuff was going on until I honestly spent more time on social media and hearing people share their stories. And it's really important for us as physicians and you know medical professionals to know that that's going on so we can help direct people. Um, but that I just found that really interesting that even you know, months and months ago that was happening, and I I wasn't even aware.

Amanda Bonello 11:02

And it's blowing up now. It's kind of becoming mainstream, to be honest, because as people are losing access more and more, they are. I mean, this January, many insurance companies cut people off from access and stopped covering it. And on top of that, now we have CVS is going to stop covering Zetbound July 1st. People are gonna lose access to that and have to start jumping through hoops to get coverage for it if they still want it. Um, and by that I mean prior authorizations that you don't know if they'll even get approved. And then um people are getting cut off from their compound options, which was for a lot of people the only affordable option. And those people, if you don't have affordable access, you don't have access. A lot of those people are desperate and they're looking at two choices. For them, it's is it worth having a shortened lifespan and having a miserable life with disease? Because that is for a lot of people what it comes down to. And chronic disease lends space for other diseases to come in. So obesity goes along with a lot of comorbidities, killing 500,000 people a year, 1,300 people a day. And if you're gonna if you're not dying from one of these things, if you don't want to choose that for yourself, then the only other option for a lot of these people in their mind is to go to research peptides, mix it themselves. Go to the dark market or the dark web, the gray web. It is the black market. It is the black web. That's what it is. Yeah, um, go to other countries. People are going to Mexico, they're getting it from Europe. There was one woman who um she was interviewed by the Institute of Medicines Access and Knowledge. We've been working, we've been coordinating with them to release videos of people uh sharing their stories for affordable access because they have created a report exposing big pharma for abusing the patent loopholes and putting like 500, 300 patents on five medications in order to extend their monopoly and keep prices high. Um, so we helped them by giving them access to patients who were willing to share their stories so that they could pair it with their powerful data, powerful voices and powerful uh data together. And um one of these women has a son who goes to Europe for business every three months and he comes back with Ozempic because it's cheaper there. People are getting it from Canada, people are getting it from India now. It's just crazy. The you have to leave your you have to leave your country or go to the black market to get a medication that your doctor has prescribed because uh you need it to live a long and happy life. Not just happy, but healthy.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 14:19

And happy is important too.

Amanda Bonello 14:21

Happy is important too, but you're happy when you're healthy. And health is really the biggest part of it because I think that there is a big old stigma that people want this medication so that they can have their beach body before the summer, but that is not what it's about. The people who are getting out of bed and breaking their ankles, the last thing on their mind is their beach body. They just want to be able to walk without pain. I interviewed um a community member yesterday who was talking about how she just lost access and she took her last shot five weeks ago. She has Hashimoto's, all of her inflammation is coming back, and it hurts to hug. It hurt to hug before, but she was saying that she didn't even realize that the pain was not normal. She thought it was just an age-related thing until she started a GLP one and all that inflammation went down. And she was like, Oh my god, it doesn't hurt to touch my skin. Wow. And now that's coming back. She wasn't thinking about her beach body. So that's why we do what we do.

Stigma And Silent Struggles

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 15:28

And what you're doing is amazing in fighting for affordable access and access to safe versions of these medications and these treatments. Have you heard of any like new movement in new ways to access these medications or things that are in development? Um, do we have some hope to share with our audience?

Amanda Bonello 15:54

Oh, I love that you're saying that. Um so we are working on a patient prescription access program. And it's ready to roll out. We have the whole system, it's HIPAA-certified and um ready. We're ready to take applications, but we have to meet that first initial funding threshold in order to be able to give money to patients so that they can pay for their medications. And that is the part that we're working on now. And I have always said that I know I can move mountains. I I have already moved some mountains and I can do it, but I cannot do it fast enough by myself. I just can't. And um, I'm not gonna lie, it has been very difficult to raise funds for this program a lot more than I realized it would be. I don't know what I was thinking when I started it. I was just like, this will be easy. People really care about GLP ones, and there will be philanthropists out there who want to help. And I guess I just like imagined that they would just be like, oh, people need help. Like flying like a superhero into nowhere, seeing the bat signal. It has not happened that way. Unfortunately, it's a lot more work than I realized. But we are ready. As soon as we're able to hit that initial threshold, we're going to open open applications and start sending cards, preload cards that we can reload every month in order to help them with direct cash assistance pay for their medications. And all we need is a verifiable prescription so that we can make sure that it's legitimate. That is it.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 17:41

Wow. That's amazing. And that prescription. So are these patients who are going to have access to this, are they selling their medication at their local pharmacy or is this a delivery service, or what would that look like?

Amanda Bonello 17:54

It would be the local pharmacy. And the the card can only be used on prescription medication at pharmacies. So that way it's not used for food or something else.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 18:07

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Oh, good. And if you don't mind me asking, what is the initial threshold so people are aware if you're comfortable sharing?

Amanda Bonello 18:18

No, of course. And it's so interesting that you're asking that because um I just met this person the other day and they were like, what's the initial threshold? Is it like a million dollars, like millions of dollars? And I'm like, $20,000. That is all we need to start with our first 40 applications. And the whole world and all of the US is not aware of this program yet. So I think it would be just fine for us to start as soon as we can because people need help now. And instead of waiting to make millions of dollars so that we can feel comfortable, um, I would rather start with what we have and then keep trying to generate funds so that every month we can help them pay for their medications rather than making them wait longer. Because, like I said, people are getting cut off right now and they don't have time to wait. And if we run out of funds for a month, then we can close applications that month. But I would rather try to help as quickly as possible and just hope that we get some grants answered quickly.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 19:29

And if anyone was wanting to help out with this cause or any other causes that you have, how would they do that?

Amanda Bonello 19:36

Um, well, the first thing I would say is sign up to join the collective at glp1collective.org. We've made it very easy. Um if you become a member, then you are f you're able to use all of our free resources. And um, please take advantage of them. They're there for you. And we would, the more people that we have in our organization, the more value it lends to our credibility. So when we're writing letters to the FDA, like we have been, then they can see how many members are behind us and care more about what we're saying. So yeah, join the collective. And there is a little floating bubble when you go to the website, and if you click on it, it'll take you to our Discord. That is where you'll get daily updates. And um, we'll be planning our Washington, DC trip this fall.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 20:35

Yeah, which I am very hopeful I will be able to attend. I'm very excited about that.

Amanda Bonello 20:42

I want to say, um, I don't know why it surprises me, but the majority of the people that have gotten back to me on in like interest in going to DC and fall are people who are pretty big advocates. It's not like a lot of um, it's not like a huge group of just patients, but it's like these advocates that already have really strong voices are like, I want to be there. Yeah. And I guess it makes sense because they're already working it.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 21:11

Well, those are the people that you want to be there. They have experience with it, and yeah, I'm excited um to see you know what that's all about and support the cause.

Insurance Cuts And The Gray Market

Amanda Bonello 21:21

Thank you. And thank you so much for your advocacy. I fell in love with you the day that we met because I saw this brilliant mind, this super compassionate doctor who genuinely cared about her patients' access. And I it just it warmed my heart to know that there was a healthcare provider out there who really wanted to help her patients. Yeah, not just send them home with a diet plan or a website link for where to find some information. You you really do work hard to make sure that your patients have like everything that they need. So Thank you.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 22:01

Yeah, well, thank you for saying that. And I'm glad that that comes across even through, you know, the video screen remotely. And yeah, I just think that that's what you know all patients deserve, you know, no matter what condition we're treating, that's you know, the approach we should be taking as healthcare professionals. Um, so so that's that's how I see it. And ultimately I see treating obesity. I was talking to somebody recently about it. She was asking how I got in the field. It was one of my patients, she was just curious on how I got into obesity medicine. And it all goes back to you know why I went into medicine in the first place. And it was to help people achieve and maintain their health. And I chose family medicine because it was such an emphasis on prevention and wellness. And then I learned during my training about obesity medicine, and I just saw that that field that was where I was seeing patients, their chronic conditions get better, that they, yeah, we're feeling better, were able to be more active. And I wasn't seeing that in the traditional primary care offices. It was really in the obesity medicine offices when we're treating the underlying cause of so many of our conditions, the excess weight that by treating that helps with decreasing inflammation and so much more. It's really is wonderful. And it's obesity medicine doctors are some of the happiest doctors out there, I think, because we, you know, can really truly help our patients. And it can be frustrating with all of the you know, regulation and the barriers to access that our patients have to go through. But if you find the right doctor and most of the obesity medicine doctors are willing to do this, they will fight for you and fill out those prior authorizations and write appeal letters and be part of advocacy groups and education and take the time to, you know, talk to you and get to know you. Um I think that's how most of us in the field are. And so I always like to highlight, you know, if you're not getting that care, then keep looking for somebody who is giving you that care because we are out there.

Amanda Bonello 24:15

Thank you. That is incredible. I I will say that the obesity field does seem to be especially kind, and maybe you have to be to be working in the obesity field.

unknown 24:29

Yeah.

Amanda Bonello 24:30

Have that extra compassion.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 24:32

It seems that way, yes. Um okay. Well, I think we've covered a lot of different topics. Um, I'm curious if you have any, you know, final thoughts you'd like to share or anything that you think we we didn't touch on.

Amanda Bonello 24:48

Yeah. Um I would say just to quickly reiterate for anyone who is listening and interested but not quite ready to go to the website and sign up, um, we do have several different programs. So one is our monthly support group, where uh so many people who are taking this medication in private don't have a support system and they really need a place to go. So you will be supported and so welcome by us. If you need somewhere that you want to share how you're feeling mentally, physically, on your journey, we're there for you. Um, we also have our live QAs with obesity specialists and dietitians. Dr. Lindsay Ogle was our very first obesity specialist, and it was a hit. There were a lot of people who really enjoyed watching and asking her questions. Um we're looking forward to hosting more of those. We have that newbie kit program for um patients just starting their GLP1 journey who really should start off on the right foot, and we'd be super happy to help them with that. And then we have the Washington, D.C. trip coming up. Um, if you're interested in going to Washington, D.C. or even just supporting from the sidelines online, we will be streaming it live. Please join our Discord to find out all the information you need there. And there's so much more to come.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 26:16

That's amazing. Again, you have so much going on to help the community at every step of the way. We're so lucky to have you. And I just want to emphasize how you know welcoming and connected Amanda is. I mean, if you have any questions in the, you know, along your journey, definitely I'm sure she's willing to, you know, answer those questions. Um, how can people find you if they do have questions?

Advocacy Trip To Washington DC

Amanda Bonello 26:47

Well, we are on TikTok and Instagram. We're on YouTube and um LinkedIn. And so if you have any questions, you can find the contact us on our website page or hit me up on any of the socials, and I am happy to reach back out. It's just GLP1 Collective at everything. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube.

Patent Games And Global Sourcing

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 27:10

Yeah, you truly make it easy. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk about, you know, your experience and everything you're doing to advocate for affordable access for GLP1s and obesity treatment in general. I can't wait to see where this goes and all of the accomplishments that you and GLP Collective is going to have in the future.

Amanda Bonello 27:37

Thank you so much, Dr. Lindsay Ogle. You are seriously my hero. I really appreciate you. Thank you for having me on.

Dr. Lindsay Ogle 27:47

Thank you for listening and learning how you can improve your metabolic health in this modern world. If you found this information helpful, please share with a friend, family member, or colleague. We need to do all we can to combat the dangerous misinformation that is out there. Please subscribe and write a review. This will help others find the podcast so they may also improve their metabolic health. I look forward to our conversation next week.