Weight loss with Ozempic or Wegovy can be frustrating when it comes to the availability and price of the popular drugs. That’s driving some people to compounding pharmacies for copycat treatments, but is it safe?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighed in on the matter on May 31, warning that it has received “adverse event reports” after patients used compounded semaglutide — the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
Both self-injected medications are listed as “currently in shortage” by the FDA and both are expensive if not covered by insurance. Wegovy, the version of diabetes drug Ozempic actually approved for weight loss, has a list price of $1,349 for a month’s supply.
Why are patients turning to compounding pharmacies?
Compounding pharmacies offer semaglutide at cheaper prices.
Semaglutide is a synthetic version of a hormone known as GLP-1, which the body releases into the intestine when people eat food. That leads to reduced appetite and slows down stomach emptying, which may contribute to feeling full sooner, doctors say.
Compounding pharmacies claim to basically make that synthetic hormone, and then send the patient the raw materials, along with something to mix them with and a syringe, said NBC’s senior medical correspondent Dr. John Torres on TODAY in March.
Compounding is the process of combining, mixing or altering ingredients to create a medication tailored to a patient’s needs, the FDA notes. When a drug is in shortage, compounders may be able to prepare a compounded version if they meet certain requirements, the agency adds.
But patients won’t get the injector pen that comes with Ozempic or Wegovy, which is what’s really in short supply, Torres added.
Is semaglutide from compounding pharmacies safe?
“You have to be careful with those (products) because those are not FDA-approved products, they’re not really watched by the FDA that well so it’s kind of a little bit of a wild West — you don’t know exactly what you’re…
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