The end of a shortage of popular weight-loss drugs may mean many people lose access to them

Some patients fear that they’ll lose access to tirzepatide because the US Food and Drug Administration determined that a shortage of the brand-name drug has ended – which means compounding of the medicine must stop.

If there’s a diet, Janet McCaskill says, she’s done it. “I’ve tried WeightWatchers. I’ve tried keto. I’ve gone to a nutritionist,” said the 58-year-old grandmother, who lives in Knightdale, North Carolina, outside Raleigh. Some of the eating plans worked, she said – until they didn’t. At the end of 2022, weighing about 212 pounds and fearful about her health after losing her brother and both parents to heart disease, McCaskill started using the diabetes drug Mounjaro off-label for weight loss. It’s part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which also includes Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound. “It literally saved my life,” she said. But it was expensive, and after switching to a lower-cost version made by a compounding pharmacy last year, McCaskill now is worried she’ll lose access to her medication because the US Food and Drug Administration determined that a shortage of the brand-name drug has ended – which means compounding of the medicine must stop. A law allowing compounding pharmacies to step in to fill gaps when drugs are in short supply enabled thousands, or even millions, of people to access costly GLP-1 medicines at a lower price point – something some physicians worried could create safety issues because compounded drugs are not FDA-approved. But for people like McCaskill, it’s been a lifeline. And as drug manufacturers dramatically ramp up supply, their access is changing fast.