Nearly half of online pharmacies selling weight loss drugs are operating illegally, study finds

We are at a critical time and supporting science journalism is more important than ever. Science News and our parent organization, the Society for Science, need your help to strengthen scientific literacy and ensure that important societal decisions are made with science in mind. Websites like the ones Mackey ordered from aren’t hard to find — anything but. “Once you start looking, they find you,” says White, the University of Connecticut pharmacist. Just Googling how to buy these drugs without a prescription brought up ads on his and his colleagues’ Facebook and Instagram feeds.

Now that there is no longer a semaglutide shortage, compounded semaglutide won’t be legally available after May 2025. While compounding pharmacies were temporarily permitted to create semaglutide formulations similar to Ozempic, they must stop production now that the Ozempic and Wegovy shortage has been lifted. That means you won’t be able to buy compounded semaglutide online unless it goes back on the FDA’s drug shortage list. TrimRx partners only with FDA-registered and state-licensed pharmacies, ensuring high safety and quality standards. We also provide comprehensive support, including doctor consultations, lab work, medication shipping, and ongoing guidance—no hidden fees.

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The manufacturer of the drug, Novo Nordisk, has a coupon through its support program, WeGoTogether. You can use it alongside your insurance, but you cannot use it with Medicare, Medicaid, or any other government health insurance. Calibrate offers its members the opportunity to lose weight via its Metabolic Reset program, a 52-week curriculum. And though the semaglutide peptide sellers included “research use only” on their labels, one seller offered injection guidance, and others touted the potential health and weight-loss benefits of their products. “It’s clear that they’re advertising for human use, but they’re trying to skirt the rules,” Mackey says. Despite the benefits, people may face negative attitudes about using drugs for weight loss.

• From January to November 2023, control poison centers across the U.S. reported nearly 3,000 calls involving semaglutide, a more than 15-fold increase since 2019.
• Comes from official USA partner 503A compounding pharmacies with testing to ensure purity and consistency.
• These labs typically include an obesity lab panel, which measures CBC (blood count), CMP (metabolic function), lipids (cholesterol levels), A1C (diabetes), TSH (thyroid function), and insulin.
• The provider will give you a treatment plan and prescribe the right medication for you.
• Some people who can’t find semaglutide at their regular pharmacy have turned to compounding pharmacies, which mix or alter drug ingredients to create medications tailored to specific patient needs.

Please note, patients in California may experienced increased fulfillment time due to additional compound testing requirements. Henry is designed to be more than a telehealth platform, but still simple for our patients. With that in mind, Henry is designed for patients seeking long-term care. Direct Preventive Care is designed to be more than a telehealth platform, but still simple for our clients.

And for some patients, they offer a reprieve from the high name-brand prices, insurance company coverage denials and drug shortages. Healthon makes accessing individualized, medically guided weight management simple and secure. The cost of Ozempic (semaglutide) can vary based on factors such as insurance, location, and pharmacy. For example, Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic, offers a patient assistance program for uninsured or Medicare patients who qualify and are prescribed Ozempic for type 2 diabetes.

Medical intake

And none of the 38 sites verified that buyers were actual researchers. But even with legal, compounded forms of semaglutide, which require a prescription and usually come premixed in a vial with a syringe, patients can run into trouble, as Lambson found. People weren’t always sure how to take the drugs, so “they just went for it,” he says.

Employer-Based Plan Restrictions

Regardless of your dosage, a month-to-month prescription costs $297. A “3 Month Starter Program” gives users a discounted rate of $199 (which is billed for three consecutive months), although we don’t think you can renew it at that rate. The cost for any program includes the medication, shipping, and clinician fees, and there aren’t any additional membership costs. It’s possible to purchase Semaglutide from online pharmacies without insurance, but caution is advised.

That said, the cost for its compounded semaglutide medication is competitive, especially for the three-month program. Generic GLP-1 medications for weight loss are far more affordable than popular name brand drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Zepbound. All reputable telehealth providers require an initial screening and a one-on-one consultation with a medical professional before prescribing any medication. The cost for all of this may or may not be folded into one monthly fee, and unlimited free support is usually included.

It’s advisable to limit or avoid alcohol, as it can affect blood sugar levels and increase the risk of stomach irritation. Since starting Wegovy® compounded semaglutide where to buy 20 months ago, I lost 26 pounds, which is about 11 percent of my starting body weight. I learned that I would give myself a Wegovy® injection once a week in combination with a reduced-calorie meal plan and increased physical activity. It was as if there was nothing stopping me.  Over time, I started noticing that my weight was beginning to affect my overall health. I became breathless going up a flight of stairs and just my daily activities were becoming more difficult, due to my weight. I wondered if my son’s friends thought of him as the kid with the big mom.

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Medication prescriptions require approval from your clinician based on your health history. In clinical trials, both semaglutide injections and oral tablets caused significant weight loss compared to other weight loss drugs and placebo. Semaglutide injections resulted in slightly more weight loss than oral tablets. However, oral tablets can be an attractive option for users who can’t or don’t want to use injections. If a provider decides that a GLP-1 medication is medically appropriate, the sooner a patient joins the program, the quicker our team can work towards assisting you with your weight loss journey. Compounded semaglutide through the NiceRx Weight Loss Program costs $229/month regardless of the dose.

GLP-1: Will I regain the weight if I stop taking GLP-1’s?

Taking control of your weight and health is a personal journey—partner with TrimRx to navigate it with confidence, science, and compassion. If semaglutide isn’t the right fit right now, we also offer quick-access supplements like GLP-1 Daily Support or Weight Loss Boost that can complement your overall wellness journey and help you maintain momentum. Understanding eligibility is crucial because semaglutide access depends on medical criteria aligned with FDA approvals. These medications work by mimicking the hormone GLP-1, which increases insulin secretion, decreases appetite, and slows gastric emptying, resulting in reduced calorie intake and improved blood glucose control.