This article provides a scathing critique of Hims & Hers Health, characterizing it as a company that exploits regulatory loopholes and consumer desperation to profit from sexual dysfunction, hair loss, and obesity treatments. The author details Hims' alleged "corporate duplicity," exemplified by its short-lived partnership with Novo Nordisk while continuing to sell "knockoff" compounded semaglutide from unvetted Chinese suppliers. The piece further condemns Hims' use of "pharmaceutical theater" – such as adding Vitamin B12 to justify "personalized" compounded generics, or combining sildenafil and tadalafil in "Hard Mints" reminiscent of illicit gas station pills – arguing these practices circumvent regulations designed for legitimate medical needs. The article concludes that Hims embodies "the banality of disruption," transforming medicine into a profit-driven retail experience optimized for convenience over genuine care, while leveraging consumer shame and navigating a complex regulatory landscape with impunity.
Summarizing "The Hollow Men of Hims" by Alex Kesin:
Critique of Hims' Business Model: The author asserts that Hims & Hers monetizes desperation by offering "barely regulated" medical treatments, akin to a "medical grift," and operates with "brazen sanctimony" by promising revolution while profiting from existing systems.
"Sick of the System" Irony: Hims' Super Bowl commercial positioned itself against "Big Pharma's price-gouging," yet weeks later, it partnered with Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of the expensive Wegovy.
Failed Partnership with Novo Nordisk: The two-month partnership ended because Hims continued to sell "illegitimate, knockoff versions" of Wegovy (compounded semaglutide) allegedly sourced from unvetted Chinese suppliers, despite an agreement to stop. Novo Nordisk accused Hims of "deceptive marketing."
Compounding Loophole Exploitation: Hims is accused of perverting FDA compounding exemptions – intended for genuinely customized medications – into industrial-scale patent circumvention. They allegedly "personalize" drugs by adding minor ingredients like Vitamin B12 or adjusting dosages to bypass mass-production regulations.
"Pharmaceutical Zombies" and Unapproved Drugs: The article highlights other companies, like Eden, using similar loopholes to resurrect and market unapproved drugs (e.g., sermorelin) or sell compounds with "significant safety concerns" (e.g., BPC-157, follistatin), with regulators perpetually playing catch-up.
"Hard Mints" and Safety Concerns: Hims' "Hard Mints" for erectile dysfunction combine sildenafil and tadalafil, a combination the author compares to illicit "Rhino" pills found at gas stations, which the FDA has warned against due to amplified side effects and risks. Hims' own blog warns against this combination while they sell it.
Exorbitant Pricing for Generics: Despite offering generic medications, Hims charges significantly higher prices (e.g., $79/month for finasteride/sildenafil kits) by locking customers into advance payments, compared to much cheaper alternatives available through traditional pharmacies or GoodRx.
Subscription Traps and Poor Customer Service: Numerous customer complaints describe automated billing, year-long commitments that are hard to cancel, and being charged for products without consent, with refunds often refused if the product has already shipped.
Questionable Sourcing: The author reiterates concerns about compounded semaglutide being sourced from uninspected Chinese suppliers, raising safety implications despite lower costs.
"Disruption" as a Detriment to Healthcare: The article concludes that Hims and similar companies worsen medicine by commodifying suffering and side effects, prioritizing profit over patient care, and replacing medical judgment with "frictionless" algorithmic processes. They are seen as transforming patients into "subscribers" and medicine into "direct-to-consumer retail."
Summarizing Hacker News Discussion:
The Hacker News discussion largely disagrees with the article's core premise, arguing that Hims' success is a direct response to the failings of the traditional American healthcare system, rather than solely unethical exploitation.
Main Arguments & Counterpoints:
Critique of Traditional Healthcare: Many commenters argue that the existing medical system is "paternalistic, hard to navigate, and often expensive." They cite issues like long wait times, high co-pays/premiums, insurance complexities, and doctors focused on billing rather than patient needs.
Defense of Hims (Convenience & Access): Users praise Hims for its convenience, accessibility, and ability to provide medications (like semaglutide, finasteride, Cialis) at lower out-of-pocket costs than traditional channels or insurance-covered options. They view Hims as "empowering" patients to make their own choices without shame or bureaucratic hurdles.
Compounding Pharmacies & "Knockoffs": There's significant debate on the article's claims about "Chinese knockoffs." Some users, with first-hand knowledge, state that Hims works with FDA-inspected 503B compounding pharmacies that conduct batch testing, challenging the "unvetted" assertion. They also question why Novo Nordisk charges 5-10x more for the "exact same thing" as compounded semaglutide. The lack of concrete evidence of harm from Hims' products is highlighted.
"Amazon Prime" Healthcare: Several users explicitly state they want a healthcare experience akin to Amazon Prime – frictionless, convenient, and affordable – arguing that the current system is so bad, that any alternative offering better UX is a net positive.
Article's Tone and AI Concerns: A notable portion of the discussion critiques the article's writing style, finding it "overly antagonistic," "haughty," "confused in content," and overly reliant on "flowery indictment" and "absurd" metaphors. The presence of a utm_source=chatgpt.com in one of the article's links leads some to suspect it might be AI-generated prose.
Subscription Practices: While many defend Hims' core service, some acknowledge and criticize the company's "dark patterns" regarding subscriptions, such as automatically resuming billing after a pause or refusing refunds for shipped products, though some found it easy to cancel.
Broader Implications: The discussion touches on the role of individual responsibility in healthcare, the problem of antibiotic overuse (as an analogy for direct-to-consumer medicine), and the high cost of brand-name drugs vs. generics. Some argue that medications like PDE5 inhibitors and semaglutide should be available over-the-counter.
Target Audience: Some suggest the article's intended audience might be pharma/healthcare investors rather than consumers, given its focus on regulatory arbitrage.