Weight-loss meds for all? | Studio 2 from WHYY | 2/11/25

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: Ezekiel J. Emanuel, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine vice provost for global initiatives and co-director of the university’s Health Transformation Institute. Scott Brunner, CEO of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding