The Wegovy Shortage Drags On, Leaving Patients in Limbo

When Mark Basa needed his next dose of Wegovy, he worked his way down a list of 10 CVS stores within a 25-mile radius of his Peekskill, N.Y., home — and struck out at every one. In the 10 weeks he couldn’t find the drug, he regained the eight pounds he had lost on the medication, and his blood sugar rose. He felt himself get out of breath more often. His shirts fit tighter.

“It was anxiety-inducing,” Mr. Basa, 37, said. “It was like, ‘Well, I’m never going to lose this weight.’”

Wegovy has appeared on the Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage list since March 2022. But doctors and patients say that the situation has worsened in the months since Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that manufactures the drug, limited the availability of the three lowest doses of Wegovy. With demand climbing faster than supply can keep up, the move effectively slows the pace of people starting the drug, because patients must begin with a low dose that is gradually increased. The shortage has fueled widespread frustration among potential patients, as well as those like Mr. Basa who need to refill their prescriptions or risk regaining weight.

“It’s created this living hell,” said Dr. Andrew Kraftson, a clinical associate professor in the division of metabolism, endocrinology and diabetes at Michigan Medicine.

A Novo Nordisk representative wrote in an email that the drugmaker anticipates “ongoing supply disruption” for those three doses as demand continues to outpace production. The company did not have an estimate for how long they will continue to limit those doses.

“The pipe is closed,” said Dr. Scott Hagan, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington who studies obesity. Dr. Hagan sees patients with severe arthritis in need of hip and knee replacements who are above the body mass index threshold for surgery; Wegovy could help them lose enough weight to have surgery, he said, but not if they’re unable to start the drug.