As more and more weight-loss startups prescribe Ozempic and Wegovy, doctors say they’re making unproven claims

A person using Ozempic on November 2, 2023, in Madrid, Spain. Novo Nordisk, the Danish firm that manufactures Ozempic, has reported record quarterly results, up almost 3% on the stock market. The company's revenues rose by 38% to DKK 58.73 billion, some 7.8 billion euros. Ozempic is a diabetic drug that causes a loss of up to 15% of body weight because it acts as an appetite suppressant, a side effect that has made the drug fashionable on social media as a weight loss drug. (Credit: Photo By Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Jessica Mathews and Alena Botros here, filling in for Allie.

Founders love to solve problems, and when you start looking into the big business of prescribing Ozempic, Wegovy, and other weight-loss drugs, you'll find a lot of things to fix. In the buzzy world of GLP-1s, as these weight-loss medications are known, there are steep price tags, frequent shortages, and soaring demand—a perfect storm for innovation, and chaos.