Fewer pharmacies will be making weight-loss drugs, what that means for consumers.

From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Beneshore, in for David Brancaccio.

When the Food and Drug Administration determined there was a shortage of weight-loss drugs like Ozympic and Wagovi,

it allowed a special type of pharmacy to step in and make them, compounding pharmacies.

They usually make drugs specifically tailored for patients,

but they were allowed to step in as kind of a mini manufacturer to help boost supply.

But the shortage is officially over, and as a result, under federal law, many of these pharmacies

will have to stop selling their own versions of these drugs, starting tomorrow.

Marketplace of Samantha Fields has more on what this means for consumers.

It can be hard to get these drugs covered by insurance, at least if they're just for weight loss

rather than for diabetes. Cynthia Cox at the Health Policy Nonprofit KFF says if you buy coverage

through the marketplace, then it's probably the case that your health plan is not going to cover these

drugs. You might have better luck if you work for a big company. But still less than one in five

large employers covers these drugs for weight loss. Medicare doesn't cover them at all,

and Medicaid only does in certain states, which means lots of people

are paying out of pocket, and the compounded drugs tend to be much cheaper. Rina Conti at Boston

University's Questrum School of Business says with the shortage over, compounding pharmacies are

supposed to stop making their own versions. But there's a loophole. Compound pharmacies can sell drugs that have a slight reformulation.

They might start adding in vitamins or making different doses.

So just because the shortage is over...

Doesn't mean that access to these drugs will be more difficult or more expensive.

Conti says people will still have options. They might just be different. I'm Samantha Fields for

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