Pricing for FDA-approved GLP-1 medications (Ozempic/Wegovy/Zepbound/Mounjaro/Foundayo) is determined by manufacturers, pharmacies, and individual insurance plans
In a parallel study of those on weight loss medicines, researchers compared about 171,000 who were on GLP-1 medications with about 197,000 who were on other weight loss drugs, and found that liraglutide (Saxenda) more than doubled the incidence of delayed gastric emptying, and that semaglutide (Wegovy) increased this side effect by more than a third (39%) compared to non-GLP-1 drugs
Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, meaning that the safety and quality of these products are not regulated by the FDA, said Stacy Marshall, M.D., a medical toxicologist at the Alabama Poison Information Center and a researcher involved in the UAB-led study
Moreover, the low or middle-income countries are unable to afford them