A stockholder has filed a derivative lawsuit against the board of directors of Hims & Hers, the fast‑growing telehealth platform best known for men’s and women’s health products—especially its weight‑loss therapies.
The suit Jones vs. Dudum names board members and CEO Andrew Dudum in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, arguing that a high-profile partnership gone awry has left the company—and its shareholders—on shaky ground.
Newsweek contacted Francis J. Flynn, Jr., Attorney at the Law Office of Francis J. Flynn, Jr. representing Steven Jones in this derivative action on behalf of Hims & Hers Health, Inc., via email on Tuesday for comment.
Attorneys for Dudum or the others directors was not listed at time of publication.
Dudum, responding to the deal’s collapse, last month said Hims & Hers adhered to legal frameworks and accused, accused the drugmaker involved of attempting to steer the company’s patients toward its own products. “We refuse to be strong-armed,” he said. The other company in the deal Novo Nordisk did not respond to Dudum’s remarks, when contacted by Reuters on June 23.
Stock image of semaglutide injections. A recent TikTok explained whether you would gain back double the weight after going off weight-loss drugs.
Photo by Aplott / Getty Images
Why It Matters
The dispute raises critical questions for the telehealth industry, including regulatory gray zones such as how far can compounding pharmacies can go under “personalization” rules, especially when dealing in high-demand drugs? And what responsibility do boards have to fully evaluate regulatory risk—even when pursuing innovative deals?
What To Know
The newly filed lawsuit is not a standard stock drop claim but a derivative suit, meaning it is brought by a shareholder on behalf of the company.
A derivative suit places emphasis not just on damages to investors, but on the breach of fiduciary duty owed to the company itself. If the suit is successful, any recovery—whether from settlements or judgments—will go to Hims & Hers, not directly to the suing shareholder.
Jones vs. Dudum is the latest of three investor‑initiated lawsuits tied to the collapse of the Wegovy deal. Two earlier securities class action suits were filed last month by investors seeking damages for the sharp drop in share price following the June meltdown.
Unlike those class actions—which typically focus on misrepresentation to shareholders—the derivative suit alleges governance failures and corporate mismanagement at the board level.
The plaintiff in the new suit alleges that the board and management disseminated misleading statements about the health of a partnership and the legality of its business model, ultimately harming the company’s interests.
The claim hinges on two major points: first, that the board approved a deal without sufficient due diligence into regulatory exposure; second, that public communications misled investors about the risk of compounding semaglutide and the deal’s longevity.
Ozempic and rival products like Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy have fueled a national obsession with medical weight loss.
But pandemic-related demand spikes and supply constraints prompted the FDA to allow compounding pharmacies to produce semaglutide during shortages. While legal, these compounded drugs are not subject to the same regulatory oversight, raising red flags for safety advocates and brand-name drugmakers.
Once the shortage was lifted in February 2025, the FDA removed approved semaglutide from its shortage list, signaling that broad compounding should cease.
Instead, many including Hims & Hers continued dispensing compounding-based copies under the contested “personalization” rationale—offering customised semaglutide dosages providers argue are tailored to individual patient needs.
On April 29, 2025, Hims & Hers and Novo Nordisk unveiled a landmark collaboration to bring Wegovy—Novo’s blockbuster semaglutide-based weight‑loss injection—to Hims & Hers’ digital storefront.
The goal was to tap into soaring demand for obesity treatments via a trusted telehealth interface.
At the time, Hims & Hers had also been offering compounded semaglutide, a so-called “knock‑off” version of Wegovy, legally produced by compounding pharmacies during the FDA‘s declared shortage of brand‑name drugs—an arrangement that Novo Nordisk had publicly criticized and challenged as risky and unregulated.
In an abrupt June 23 announcement—only two months after the deal was unveiled—Novo Nordisk severed the partnership.
The company accused Hims & Hers of “deceptive promotion,” arguing that its compounding operations went beyond legal allowances and threatened patient safety. Hims & Hers’ stock plummeted.
What People Are Saying
Him & Hers Founder, Andrew Dudum said in his post on X in June: “In recent weeks, Novo Nordisk’s commercial team increasingly pressured us to control clinical standards and steer patients to Wegovy regardless of whether it was clinically best for patients”, adding “We refuse to be strong-armed by any pharmaceutical company’s anticompetitive demands that infringe on the independent decision making of providers and limit patient choice.”
Dudum said of the prospect of legal action: “They might take legal action. Others might take legal action. Again, when things are hurting their bottom line in this way, people do all types of things.”
Dave Moore, executive vice president U.S. operations at Novo Nordisk said in a June 23 release about the deal collapse: “We terminated the deal to protect patients living with obesity”, and reaffirmed that only “…authentic, FDA‑approved and regulated Wegovy should be prescribed.”
He added: “We will work with telehealth companies to provide direct access to Wegovy that share our commitment to patient safety—and when companies engage in illegal sham compounding that jeopardizes the health of Americans, we will continue to take action.”
And in a Novo corporate statement on July 14, the company said: “Hims & Hers Health, Inc. has failed to adhere to the law which prohibits mass sales of compounded drugs under the false guise of ‘personalization’ and are disseminating deceptive marketing that put patient safety at risk.”
What Happens Next
The derivative lawsuit is in its early stage. No hearings or settlement discussions have been reported.