A San Antonio weight loss clinic owner is encouraging consumers of the GLP-1 drug semaglutide not to panic now that the FDA deadline for compound pharmacies to stop making it is in place.

Some of the more than a dozen states that cover the high cost of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound through Medicaid or state employee insurance programs are scrambling to lessen the budgetary squeeze from fast-rising costs.

As GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy rise in popularity, so do concerns over their side effects.

While West Virginia's employee health insurance program covers drugs like Ozempic for people with type 2 diabetes, officials decided to indefinitely pause covering their use for weight loss patients because of the cost.

The federal government is phasing out off-brand copies of two blockbuster drugs used to treat obesity and diabetes.

Use of diabetes and obesity medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and other so-called GLP-1 drugs has soared among teens and young adults.