People are buying copycat versions of Ozempic and Wegovy. Is that safe? - AOL

When Robin Langois, 58, was prescribed the weight-loss drug Wegovy last year, she couldn’t afford the high price tag after her insurance wouldn’t cover it.

Langois, of Tucson, Arizona, said she was initially hesitant, because of safety concerns, but she eventually found a telehealth provider to write her a prescription.

Either due to cost or ongoing shortages, people are seeking alternatives to the brand name medications Ozempic and Wegovy, both of which containthe active ingredient semaglutide.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” said Dr. Fatima Cody, a physician specializing in obesity at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston who serves as an adviser to Novo Nordisk.

Dr. Chris McGowan, who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina, has noticed that compounded versions of Wegovy and Ozempic are growing in popularity.

Mary Morgan Mills, 32, of Raleigh, North Carolina, came to McGowan after taking what she was told was a compounded version of semaglutide for about a year.