Who the labels say these medicines are for

A label is the document FDA approves alongside a drug. Its first section, "Indications and Usage", says who the drug was studied in and approved for. That is the population. It is written in general terms on purpose. The checker above reads your numbers against that wording and nothing more.

The weight-management labels

Wegovy and Zepbound are both indicated, in combination with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults with obesity, or adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition (each label, section 1). The labels define those two words by BMI: obesity is a BMI of 30 kg/m² or greater, overweight is 27 kg/m² or greater (the trial populations in section 14 were enrolled on those cut points, and the labels use them throughout).

So the wording resolves to two doors:

• BMI 30 or higher, on its own.
• BMI 27 to under 30, together with at least one weight-related comorbid condition.

"Weight-related comorbid condition" is followed in each label by "e.g." and a short list. Wegovy gives hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia. Zepbound gives hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease. "E.g." means examples. A prescriber can consider a condition the list does not name; the checker on this page only counts the named ones, because those are the only ones the label states.

Wegovy also lists adolescents aged 12 and older with obesity, and a separate cardiovascular indication for adults with established cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight. Zepbound has a separate indication for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Those are different populations with their own wording; this page and the checker stay with the weight-management wording, which is the one most first-time readers are asking about.

The type 2 diabetes labels

Ozempic and Mounjaro are indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (each label, section 1). There is no BMI in the sentence. A person with type 2 diabetes and a BMI of 24 is inside it; a person with a BMI of 35 and no diabetes is not. Neither product is approved for weight reduction, which is why the same molecules were studied and approved again under the Wegovy and Zepbound names for that purpose.

Ozempic carries two further indications for adults with type 2 diabetes: cardiovascular risk reduction with established cardiovascular disease, and kidney risk reduction with chronic kidney disease (section 1). Again, different wording, and still anchored on the diabetes diagnosis.

What the population wording does not say

It does not say the drug is safe for you. The contraindications live in section 4: a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma, Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2, or a prior serious hypersensitivity reaction. The warnings live in section 5. None of that is in the checker, because none of it can be read from a weight and a height. The how a prescriber decides page walks through what a clinician asks to cover it.

It also does not say the drug will work for you. The trials behind the wording enrolled people who matched it and reported averages: in STEP 1, 1,961 adults with BMI 30 or higher, or 27 or higher with at least one weight-related condition, without diabetes, lost a mean 14.9% of body weight on semaglutide 2.4 mg over 68 weeks against 2.4% on placebo (PubMed 33567185). An average is not a promise. The when weight change starts page has the curves.

BMI itself

BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. It is used in the labels because it is cheap, reproducible and was the entry criterion for the trials. It does not measure body fat, where fat sits, muscle mass, or anything about health directly, and the CDC's categories are population descriptors rather than individual diagnoses. If your BMI sits near a cut point, that is a conversation to have rather than a number to argue with. The FormBlends calculator site shows the weight at your height for every cut point if you want the arithmetic.

Compounded products have no label

Everything above comes from four brand labels. Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide are not FDA approved, so there is no indication section to read; a prescriber writing for a compounded product is exercising clinical judgment, usually informed by the brand labels. Compounded products are not interchangeable with the brand ones. If that is what you have been offered, the brand versus compounded page is the next read.