A prescription cannot be skipped
U.S. federal law requires a prescription for prescription medicine. It must come from a doctor or another health professional whose licence allows them to prescribe (September 26, 2026).
- Ask who assesses you and issues the prescription.
- Ask how the person treating you can request more information.
- Ask how to put your own questions to that person.
Approval claims need the exact product
FDA means the Food and Drug Administration. Read the wording about the product itself, not just the business.
- Describing a compounded preparation as FDA-approved is false; compounded preparations do not have that approval (September 26, 2026).
- A business being FDA-registered does not grant its products approval (September 26, 2026).
- Ask for the document behind an approval claim.
A research label is not care
Some weight-drug products are sold for human use with labels saying “not for human consumption” or carrying “for research use only”. FDA warns against using them. That wording means they are offered for experiments. Their contents are of unknown quality and may cause harm (September 26, 2026).
- Keep any “research use” wording in your notes.
- Ask the person treating you about the product rather than following a sales-page guide.
Check the name on the product
FDA has found false labels on made-to-order products sold as semaglutide or tirzepatide, ingredients used in weight and diabetes medicines. Some labels gave the names of nonexistent pharmacies; others named a pharmacy that had not made the product (September 26, 2026).
- Match the name to a pharmacy-board record.
- If the names differ, pause before agreeing or paying. Ask the service and the named pharmacy to explain the difference, and keep the answer with the board record.