CBS News
While brand-name weight loss drugs are in short supply, a market for alternatives thrives
Prescription weight loss drugs have become so popular in the United States that suppliers have struggled to keep up. Jean Readdy, a retired teacher living in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, is among the one in eight Americans who have tried a GLP-1 drug for weight loss or diabetes, more commonly known by brand names like Ozempic and Wegovy.
Readdy, who has struggled with her weight for most of her life, told CBS News her weight affected her self-esteem and how she moved through the world.
“I didn’t like going out places,” Readdy admitted.
She reached her highest weight last October, right as her son was about to be married.
“I was embarrassed for him and I was embarrassed for myself,” said Readdy.
Now, she’s one of a growing number of people turning to compounded drugs: reformulated versions the FDA has permitted pharmacies to distribute during an ongoing shortage of brand-name drugs.
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Readdy’s decision to switch from a name brand to a compounded drug came down to price and availability. Paying $1,200 a month for the name-brand drug Zepbound wasn’t sustainable, and it was becoming impossible to find, she said.
And she’s not alone.
Readdy turned to online communities where thousands of people shared resources and where to find the drugs in short supply. On a Reddit forum, she read about the side effects, learned about alternatives, and eventually came across a spreadsheet with dozens of telehealth providers for prescription drugs used for weight loss. After weighing the risks and calling dozens of pharmacies, she eventually found one that provided her with injectable tirzepatide, the same active ingredient found in Zepbound. Readdy now pays $399 a month for her compounded medication.
CBS News identified more than 100 companies advertising access to tirzepatide or semaglutide, both active ingredients in name-brand GLP-1 drugs that regulate insulin and suppress appetite.
LegitScript, an organization that monitors and certifies online businesses, said it saw a 94% increase in companies applying for its healthcare certification since 2023. More than half of its recent applicants had a weight-loss focus on their website.
However, compounded drugs aren’t reviewed for efficacy and safety by the FDA.
“There is not a tremendous amount of oversight,” said CBS News medical contributor Dr. Celine Gounder. “There is a wide range in terms of the quality and the risks.”
Researchers who ordered and tested compounded semaglutide found some were contaminated and others contained more of the active ingredient than advertised.
Compounded drugs typically come with a needle and a vial, rather than a pre-filled pen, as the brand-name medications do. This can make them harder to administer and lead to potential dosing errors. The FDA issued warnings about administering the proper dosage of the drugs and the risks of using compounded semaglutide.
Still, many of the telehealth companies advertising compounded weight-loss drugs present them as the same as or “generic” versions of the brand-name medications. Nearly a quarter of the websites that CBS News identified did not disclose the drugs they were advertising were compounded.
There is no FDA-approved generic version of brand-name weight loss drugs since pharmaceutical companies still hold patents on the medications. Some of the companies falsely claimed the drugs were FDA-approved. A few even allowed direct purchases without the required prescription.
The FDA is working closely with drugmakers and may restrict the manufacturing of compounded drugs as more versions of approved drugs come off the shortage list.
Last month, Eli Lilly announced it would reduce the cost of the lowest dose of its drug Zepbound to around $400 a month. It also launched its own telehealth company, LillyDirect.
Readdy, who has lost more than 50 pounds, said she intends to continue using her compounded medication.
“We’re very afraid actually that the drug is gonna be taken away,” she said. “I think it’s a miracle drug.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday will visit the Pennsylvania ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
He is expected to go to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant to kick off a busy week in the United States shoring up support for Ukraine in the war, according to two U.S. officials and a third familiar with Zelenskyy’s schedule who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public. He also will address the U.N. General Assembly annual gathering in New York and travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells. They are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns with long barrels that can fire at various angles. Howitzers can strike targets up to 15 miles to 20 miles (24 kilometers to 32 kilometers) away and are highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance.
Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of the 155 mm shells from the U.S.
With the war now well into its third year, Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. for permission to use longer range missile systems to fire deeper inside of Russia.
So far he has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons.
At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 155 mm shells per day. That rate started to deplete U.S. stockpiles and drew concern that the level on hand was not enough to sustain U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as in a potential conflict over Taiwan.
In response, the U.S. has invested in restarting production lines and is now manufacturing more than 40,000 155 mm rounds a month, with plans to hit 100,000 rounds a month. During his visit, Zelenskyy is expected to meet and thank workers who have increased production of the 155 mm rounds over the past year.
Two of the Pentagon leaders who have pushed that increased production through — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer — are also expected to join Zelenskyy at the plant, as is Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa.
The 155 mm rounds are just one of the scores of ammunition, missile, air defense and advanced weapons systems the U.S. has provided Ukraine — everything from small arms bullets to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. has been the largest donor to Ukraine, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion NATO and partner countries have collected to aid in its defense.
Even though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, commitment to its defense is seen by many of the European nations as a must to keep Putin from further military aggression that could threaten bordering NATO-member countries and result in a much larger conflict.
Federal agents have boarded a vessel managed by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, the FBI has confirmed to CBS News.
In statements Saturday, spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities have boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” the FBI told CBS News in a statement.
The agency said it was “unable to comment further.”
In a lawsuit Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department has alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel that had a power outage moments before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. Six men who were doing work on the bridge died.
The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port.
Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning.
Wilson has previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight” about the Justice Department’s lawsuit.
The budget motel chain Motel 6 is being acquired by the parent company of Oyo, a hotel operator based in India.
The New York-based investment firm Blackstone, which owns Motel 6’s parent company G6 Hospitality, announced Friday that the deal would be an all-cash transaction worth $525 million.
The transaction will also include the sale of the Studio 6 motel brand, which caters to customers seeking extended stays. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images G
Oyo, which launched in India just over a decade ago, has been expanding its footprint in the U.S. over the past few years. The company says it currently operates 320 hotels across 35 states and is aiming to add 250 more this year.
“This acquisition is a significant milestone for a startup company like us to strengthen our international presence,” Gautam Swaroop, OYO’s international division chief, said in a statement.
Blackstone had purchased Motel 6 and Studio 6 in 2012 for $1.9 billion. Since then, the private equity giant says it has heavily invested in the brand and pursued a strategy that converted the chain into a franchise.
“This transaction is a terrific outcome for investors and is the culmination of an ambitious business plan that more than tripled our investors’ capital and generated over $1 billion in profit over our hold period,” Rob Harper, the head of Blackstone Real Estate Asset Management Americas, said in a statement.
Under the deal, Oravel Stays, which owns Oyo, will acquire G6 Hospitality.