As of April 22, many compounding pharmacies will have to stop selling their own versions of the popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

That’s because the FDA has determined the shortage of those name brand drugs, which has been going on since 2022, is over. 

Federal law allows compounding pharmacies to make copies of name brand drugs if and only if there’s a supply shortage.

It can be hard to get these drugs covered by insurance — at least, if they’re just for weight loss rather than for diabetes.

If you buy coverage through the marketplace, “then it's probably the case that your health plan is not going to cover these drugs,” said Cynthia Cox at the health policy nonprofit KFF.

You might have better luck if you work for a big company. “But still, less than one in five large employers covers these drugs for weight loss,” she said.

Medicare doesn’t cover them at all and Medicaid only does in certain states, which means lots of people are paying out of pocket. And the compounded drugs tend to be much cheaper. 

With the shortage over, Rena Conti at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business said that compounding pharmacies are supposed to stop making their own versions.

“But there’s a loophole,” she said. “Compound pharmacies can sell drugs that have a slight reformulation.”

They might start adding in vitamins or making different doses.

So just because the shortage is over, it “doesn’t mean that access to these drugs will be more difficult or more expensive,” Conti said.

People will still have options, Conti added. They just might be different.