Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are becoming household names. Just like Advil, a brand of ibuprofen, they are being recognized as shorthand for a whole class of drugs called semaglutides.

Ozempic was developed in 2017 as a diabetes treatment but users discovered weight loss as a secondary effect. Developed by Novo Nordisk, a Danish company, they are struggling to keep up with demand as more and more prescriptions “fly off the physician’s pads.”

“Obesity is an epidemic,” according to Dr. Sahar Takkouche of Vanderbilt University. Like any epidemic, it calls for caution, but does it require treatmen...