Weight-loss meds for all?

A Super Bowl ad for compounded versions of the popular brand name weight-loss drugs has caused controversy. Should weight-loss drugs be for everyone?

Air Date: February 12, 2025 12:00 pm

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2010 file photo, a subject's waist is measured during an obesity prevention study in Chicago. Obesity rates in the U.S. have been rising steadily for well over a decade and some of the world’s biggest drug developers are tapping into the growing treatment market. Novo Nordisk reported another surge in profits and revenue during its most recent quarter with a big assist from Wegovy, an injectable treatment for weight loss approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2021. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

It seems like everyone is on weight loss medications these days. Drop a few pounds and someone will surely ask: was it Ozempic? But many people aren’t actually taking the name brand prescription medications — instead, knockoff versions created at compounding pharmacies.

A splashy ad during Super Bowl 59 pitched easy, affordable access to these compounded drugs from the telehealth company Hims & Hers Health Inc. But absent was the long laundry list of side effects or any statement that these aren’t FDA approved. That worried a lot of physicians.

On this episode of Studio 2, we ask: are we passing out pills too easily? Or should everyone have access to these so-called miracle weight loss meds? And what about safety and regulations for the copycat compounded versions of drugs for hair growth or erectile dysfunction?

Guests:

Dr. Zeke Emanuel, vice provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and co-director of the university’s Health Transformation Institute.

Scott Brunner, CEO of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding

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