Authorities are sounding the alarm over dangerous, counterfeit Ozempic. Here’s how to tell if your drug is safe

Ozempic is the market name for one of a series of medications known as GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) drugs. Other names for these types of drugs include Wegovy, Rybelsus and Zepbound. USA Today (3) reported last March (2) that while insurers often cover GLP-1 drugs when prescribed for diabetes, many are reluctant to do so when treating obesity. However, benefits consultant Mercer reported (4) that in 2024, coverage for obesity drugs was 44% among employers with a staff of 500 or more.

Counterfeit drugs carry risks

In late 2025, the FDA warned counterfeit versions of Ozempic had been found in the U.S. drug supply chain, telling consumers not to use the identified products.

“Patients should only obtain Ozempic with a valid prescription through state-licensed pharmacies and check the product before using for any signs of counterfeiting,” the FDA said (5).

Authorities in Canada warned consumers about unauthorized versions of GLP-1 drugs recently. The CBC reported (3) that “Health Canada said it has identified various retailers in Canada selling unauthorized GLP-1 products — sometimes referred to as ‘fauxzempic’ — both in stores and online.”

Health Canada warns counterfeit drugs can be made with too much, too little, or no active ingredients; may contain unlisted, dangerous, or unknown ingredients; could contain contaminants; may be poorly or incorrectly labeled; and may have been improperly manufactured or stored (6).

Counterfeit drugs carry obvious risks. But there have also been warnings about compounded versions of these popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs. Compounded medications are produced by compounding pharmacies, which “prepare versions of approved medications that are not widely available,” according to Scientific American (7), and can also “fill in gaps in supply.”

An article from Harvard Health Publishing (8) notes that, “While compounded drugs are always supposed to contain FDA-approved ingredients, the formulations as prepared at compounding pharmacies aren't reviewed by the FDA for purity, safety, or effectiveness.” The article notes that, in 2023, the FDA “received reports that some compounders were using salt forms of the diabetes and weight loss drug semaglutide [...] But these ingredients aren’t FDA-approved, and there's no evidence that they are safe or effective.”

In 2024, the drugmaker Novo Nordisk warned (9) that compounded semaglutide had been associated with at least 100 hospitalizations and 10 deaths. The U.S. federal government had allowed compounding pharmacies to sell less expensive versions of GLP-1 drugs while the medications were in short supply, but ended that exemption in May 2025.

Scientific American (10) notes that there are two kinds of compounding pharmacy: 503A pharmacies, which make “small batches of a medication according to a doctor’s prescription to fulfill a person’s individual need,” and 503B pharmacies, which work “on a much larger scale, using outsourcing facilities to mass-produce the compounded medications, with or without prescriptions, at a relatively low cost and to sell them to health care retailers.”

“Compounded drugs shouldn’t be confused with generic drugs, which are exact copies of FDA-approved drugs whose patents have expired. Nor are they counterfeit versions of drugs,” Scientific American reported.

The FDA announced (11) in February that it planned to crack down on non-FDA-approved GLP-1 drugs, and would take steps to restrict GLP-1 active pharmaceutical ingredients “intended for use in non-FDA-approved compounded drugs that are being mass-marketed by companies — including Hims & Hers and other compounding pharmacies — as similar alternatives to FDA-approved drugs.”

After the FDA announcement, Hims & Hers canceled the launch of a GLP-1 pill, Scientific American reported, and two days later, drugmaker Novo Nordisk (12) filed a lawsuit against the company, saying in a statement that Hims & Hers “unlawfully mass markets unapproved versions of Novo Nordisk’s FDA-approved semaglutide medicines, deceiving patients and putting their health at risk.”

Prices drop

Prices for most versions of Wegovy and Ozempic were cut in November by Novo Nordisk. USA Today reported (13) that for consumers who buy directly from the manufacturer, telehealth partners or retail pharmacies, the costs for injectable Wegovy and Ozempic dropped to $349 a month, down from $499 a month.

There are also oral versions of obesity medications that have not yet been released, but have been fast-tracked for approval by the FDA. Drugmaker Eli Lilly’s pill, orforglipron, is an entirely new drug, and Novo Nordisk’s pill is a higher dose, oral version of Wegovy, according to the New York Times (14). The lowest doses of these pills will be available for $149 a month.