the exploding popularity of weight loss trucks a recent survey showed one in eight Americans have tried medications like OIC and wovi to treat everything from diabetes to weight loss and other conditions and as demand Rises many people are turning to copycat Alternatives compounded versions of these drugs CBS News confirmed looked into the marketplace for these Alternatives and found plenty of gray area with little oversight or protections for buyers oh with we go I'm losing weight they've become household names commonly known as glp1 drugs the weight loss medications OIC and wovi treat illnesses like diabetes and
obesity they do it by regulating insulin and reducing appetite but there's not enough according to the FDA demand has been so high that the administration added medicines with these appetite suppressing ingredients to its shortage list this year that meets other companies often specialized pharmacies can make compounded drugs essentially copycat versions with the same active ingredient come on girls come with Mommy they've become a Lifeline for many including Gan ready a 65-year-old retired teacher who has struggled with her weight for most of her life how much were you thinking about your weight all the time that
just gave me my son got married last October and I was at the highest weight I'd ever been when he got married and I hate that was embarrassed for him and I was embarrass for myself after doing some research she decided to try a brand name drug called Zep bound but it wasn't covered by her insurance did it go from I think this could be something I'm interested in to I got it get this oh pretty fast the conversation had to though happen with my husband I'm like is $1,200 I tried probably to say it
as low as I could but in order to reach her weight loss goals ready would have to keep taking the drug which was hard to find and expensive leading her to seek other options online while Zep bound the name brand drug cost her $11,200 a month a compounded drug was $400 CBS News confirmed found more than a hundred websites advertising access to semaglutide inter zepeti the active ingredients in these drugs nearly a quarter of those sites did not disclose the drugs were compounded and some falsely claimed FDA approval a few even allowed purchases without a
prescription which was required for guidance ready turned to online forums where she found this long list of providers it'll tell you about the dosage and this would be your monthly cost with this company MH and there's plenty to sort through teleah Health companies applying for certification with legit script a third-party organization that reviews online companies is up 94% compared to last year compounded drugs are meant to be a short-term solution says CBS News medical contributor Dr Selen gounder uh there might be a shortage of a medication which is what we're dealing with right now with
uh many of these weight loss drugs and so there is a gap there that they are trying to fill how much oversight is there really over these compounded drugs there's not a tremendous amount of oversight and uh researchers have actually tried to test this themselves and there is a wide range in terms of the quality and the risks Associated based on that testing an FDA spokesperson told CBS News it is working closely with drug makers and may restrict the manufacturing of compounded drugs in the future as more versions of weight loss drugs come off the
administration's shortage list and come down in price last month Eli L announced it would make its drug Zep bound more accessible by reducing the lowest dose to less than $400 a month that's about what ready pays for her compounded drug now and she says she's sticking with it after losing more than 50 lbs what is the feeling that you have now it just feels like a relief I think it's a miracle drug I really do you know there are so many questions to be asked especially about the oversight of these drugs but what's un deniable
is how much of an impact it has already had for so many people including Jean who say this is a new lease on life now I know so many people said there is no magic pill to weight loss but this certainly isn't a oneandone how long are are they saying a number of people are having to stay on these drugs I think that's something that so many people are going to be figuring out as they navigate this new territory but so much there's such a gray area that so many of these companies it seems like
have flooded trying to make money off of all this and we just some do it right and maybe some don't all right ncy thank you
