Can a pharmacy still make a copy?

Why did shortages matter?

FDA is short for Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency for medicines.

FDA policy in September 2026 allows a national shortage to be grounds for an exception to medicine-copying limits.

One pharmacy being out of stock does not prove a national shortage.

Are the semaglutide and tirzepatide shortages still listed?

As checked in September 2026, FDA records do not list semaglutide injection or tirzepatide as being in shortage.

FDA gave pharmacies and larger facilities extra time to stop making shortage-based copies of those medicines. By September 2026, that time had run out.

The brands Ozempic and Wegovy use semaglutide as their ingredient; the ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound is tirzepatide. Ask about the exact proposed preparation.

Does adding a vitamin settle the issue?

FDA guidance from September 2026 says adding a vitamin does not always prevent a preparation being treated as a copy.

For this pharmacy exception, the prescriber must identify a change for one named patient. That change must make a significant medical difference for that person. The prescriber must record that difference.

Essentially a copy is the term for a product close enough to an available medicine to fall under the copy rule.

The rule limits regular copies or copies made in large amounts; it does not mean all compounding is against the law.

Ask how the preparation differs from the ready-made medicine and what that difference means for your health. Ask for this answer even if a vitamin has been added.