LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently announced a shortage of Mounjaro, an injectable diabetic medication, and Arkansas pharmacies have had trouble keeping the short supply on their shelves.
"It might be available today... it might be available tomorrow," Pharmacy of Wellington Pharmacist Jenny Wells said. "In one strength and not the rest of strengths, so we constantly have to check our wholesaler to see if it's available and try to snatch it up when we see availability."
Wells said the market has been booming since the prescription drug came out about a year and a half ago.
"It is FDA-approved for diabetes, and it helps diabetics lower their A1C," Wells said. "It's just been found to be incredibly effective at what it does, and ever since it got FDA-approved, it took off."
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Mounjaro will be in short supply until the end of March, leaving pharmacists like Wells to decide what to do next.
"Pharmacists are very well versed in navigating drug shortages," Wells said. "This drug, in particular, is a little bit special because it's been kind of an ongoing production issue since its release."
Wells said the issue could be related to FDA-approved drugs sharing the same ingredients. Mounjaro and Zepbound, a weight management drug, have similar makeups.
"Zepbound became available very late 2023," Wells said. "Before Zepbound was FDA-approved for weight management, Mounjaro was often used for weight management, and so I think that compounded the drug shortage issue whenever multiple populations, not just diabetics, were seeking out the medication as well."
Eli Lilly, the makers of Mounjaro, recently rolled out an ad campaign aimed at people who use the injections for what they call cosmetic weight loss, seeming to say that may be contributing to the shortage.
"There is definitely a national shortage because obesity is the biggest problem in this country, which causes diabetes and heart disease and knee for joint replacements and sleep apnea," Bariatric Surgeon Tom Lavin said.
Although they're battling this crisis now, Wells said local pharmacies are doing everything possible to help.
"A common solution would be to call the doctor if we can't get your medication and see if we could change it to a sister medication," Wells said. "It's not the best solution, but it is ideal versus going without the medication."