COLORADO SPRINGS — Maybe you’ve heard of someone taking GLP-1s, or you’ve seen celebrities like Serena Williams talk about taking them for weight loss.
Over the past few years, it’s been sold to consumers as a “quick fix” to lose weight. Going to places like med spas or weight loss clinics, people have gotten ahold of “compounded” versions of the drugs. These businesses are typically staffed with a medical provider such as a Nurse Practitioner.
It’s not the name-brand version or even a generic, it’s a drug created using similar ingredients found in the name brand.
What is a GLP-1?
Glucagon-like peptide 1, more commonly known as “GLP-1” are typically injectable drugs. The drug mimics a hormone in the body that regulates blood sugar and appetite, and weight loss is a common side effect of the drug.
“The GLP-1s were all initially done for type two diabetes,” Dr. Bob Wilcox, a weight loss surgeon in Colorado springs said.
Wilcox said his business has been impacted by people taking GLP-1s versus seeking out weight loss surgery. At the same, nearly everyone who comes in for weight loss surgery has already tried a GLP-1.
“People ask me about what do I think about the GLP one? So I'm like, whatever, whatever happens to try to help people lose weight, and see the dramatic health benefit,” Wilcox said.
Wilcox said it’s typically given to patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27 or more, with a comorbidity that’s likely to improve with weight loss.
“They've been shown to have great results for a lot of medical problems that are associated with obesity and some excess weight,” Wilcox said.
The main ingredients used for GLP-1s are semaglutide, which is in drugs like Ozempic, and terzepatide, which is in drugs like Mounjaro and Zepbound.
The Compound Market
In 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed semaglutide on its drug shortage list because of an increased demand. It was removed in April of 2025 when the FDA declared the shortage was over.
When a drug is placed on the FDA shortage, compounding pharmacies are allowed to produce a “compound” version of the drug in bulk.
Compounds contain similar ingredients as the original drug, but may come in a different dose or be mixed in with something like vitamin B12.
When the drug is not on the shortage list, a compounded drug can only be produced for a “patient specific” prescription.
“Typically in the compounded world, what that might be is I struggle with swallowing a pill. So maybe I'm very young or very old, so a compounder will produce a powder form,” said Michael Distefano, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus said.
DiStefano published research on the direct-to-consumer compounded GLP-1 Market in Colorado earlier this year. The research identified nearly 200 locations selling compounded GLP-1s in Colorado.
“Compounded medications can be very safe. Right. The vast majority of them probably are very safe,” DiStefano said.
Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, but there are regulations for compounding pharmacies at the state level.
The research found most of the businesses advertising compounded GLP-1 either advertised as a medical spa or a weight loss clinic.
“We did see that in many cases, the businesses are referring to the compounded medication, or they're using the term FDA approved across their website,” DiStefano said.
That’s not the only claim DiStefano found; ingredients that are in trial were also advertised.
“You'd also see things like I think in close to half of the business websites, we saw the compounded drug referred to as a generic, which also is not the case, right? Generic drugs do have to show like bio equivalents to their branded analogues.”
There is currently no generic Ozempic in the United States.
The Cost of Weight Loss Drugs
DiStefano and four other researchers conducted studies in 2024 while the shortage for semaglutide were still in place.
“These GLP-1 drugs were pretty fascinating in that the data for them was extremely good, but they also just had very high prices,” DiStefano said.
Prices for drugs like Ozempic can run about $500 without insurance, Mounjaro can run upwards of $1,000.
“A lot of insurers, given how widespread obesity is in this country were very reluctant to just give broad coverage,” DiStefano said.
DiStefano studies drug prices and said part of what led him to the research was seeing advertisements for GLP-1s while watching baseball and speaking with colleagues who knew people taking compounded GLP-1s. “We thought there might be something there,” DiStefano said.
He added there are budget concerns when it comes to giving broad coverage of weight loss drugs.
“Well, the drugs are just expensive, right?,” DiStefano said, “and a lot of people are overweight, and so if you were to just pay for these drugs for everyone, right, who meet the, you know, the FDA, BMI threshold, etc., you would spend a lot of money up front.”
Additionally, Medicaid and Medicare programs do not cover the drugs.
“So that's just a lot of people don't have access to insurance coverage for the drug, and so they are the ones who will turn to the compound,” DiStefano said.
The cost is likely to come down in 2027, Ozempic and WeGovy, another GLP-1, was selected for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Meaning the cost of the drug will come down.
Access to Compounded GLP-1s
News5Investigates took a hidden camera inside businesses offering GLP-1s to take a look at the market in Colorado Springs. There were three clinics we took a hidden camera into to see the experience ourselves and we were provided with three different answers.
One clinic denied us, saying the BMI threshold to get a GLP-1 would be 25. Another clinic said additional testing would need to done to determine eligibilitiy. A third clinic was willing to ship the GLP-1 at a starting price of $200.
Wilcox previously offered compounded GLP-1s through his practice, when it was removed from the FDA shortage list he stopped providing the drug.
“It’s buyer beware basically,” Wilcox said.
Mental Health Impact
“Holy Cow, they’re really doing this,” Janice Van Anrooy, a therapist who specializes in eating disorders in Colorado Springs said in response to hidden camera footage from News5Investigates.
On one side, the APA said it can help people with body image issues, on the other side it can lead to issues like depression and suicidal thoughts. Various studies show differing outcomes for people from a mental health standpoint.
“It’s an epidemic in our country, the drive for thinness,” VanAnrooy said, “we're not looking at the underlying reasons that that person has the obesity problem in the first place. That's where we need to go backwards and look at that,” Van Anrooy said.
VanAnrooy is concerned with access to GLP-1s that someone struggling with an eating disorder may try and get ahold of GLP-1s. She added that eating disorders impact people of all ages and genders.
In her 38 years as a therapist she said in the beginning she hardly saw male patients, now it’s about one third of her caseload.
“I'm shocked at that,” VanAnrooy said.
Eating disorders are something VanAnrooy feels is a side effect of a mental health issue.
“It's not about what they look like, it’s about what they feel like. It's the symptomology of what's going on underneath with the mental health aspect,” VanAnrooy said.
She points to family dynamics, mental health issues like anxiety and stress, especially for young people with social media.
“That's what I help people do is find authentic connection that makes sense, that you can sit down at the family meal at dinner and put the electronics down,” VanAnrooy said.
Colorado’s Attorney General joined a lawsuit with 36 other states earlier this year, urging the FDA to enforce regulations surrounding compounded GLP-1s as well as cracking down on counterfeit versions of the drug.
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