Know what to
pause over.
Check the product, the prescription and the names behind both.
Use these signs when reading a care offer. Ask the person providing your medical care and the pharmacist about your own health.
Pause over these claims
The prescription and approval rules below were checked against FDA sources on September 26, 2026.
FDA stands for Food and Drug Administration. This agency assesses medicines for particular uses.
A medicine prepared or mixed for an individual patient is called a compounded medicine.
A prescription product with no prescription
Federal rules require a valid prescription before a prescription drug is dispensed, meaning handed over.
Ask who makes the care decision and how that decision is recorded.
Approval claimed for a custom medicine
Preparation by a licensed pharmacy does not give a compounded medicine FDA approval.
The FDA says a business calling itself “FDA registered” has not proved that its medicine is approved.
A National Drug Code (NDC), the number identifying a product in the government’s drug directory, does not prove FDA approval either.
Keep the product’s name beside any badge or approval claim.
A research label paired with human-use claims
FDA warns people against taking weight-drug products bearing research labels. Their quality is not known, and taking them could harm health.
Find out which applies to your medicine: FDA approval or preparation to order for you. If it is made to order, ask the pharmacist how it meets the law.
A pharmacy that cannot be identified
Some labels for compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide name fake pharmacies, according to FDA reports. Some of those pharmacy names refer to businesses that do not exist.
Get the pharmacy’s full name. Match it to the state record.
Look beyond a polished page
Ask for a real conversation about the plan
An online form with fixed questions cannot by itself support a care decision, says guidance for doctor-licensing boards checked September 26, 2026.
A form that changes its questions based on your answers is different, if the person reviewing it can ask you more questions.
Ask who will review your answers and whether they can ask more questions. Write down who is treating you and who can be reached after the visit.
Read a low price with the other signs
FDA flags prices that are hard to believe because they are so low. Checking only the price cannot establish that a pharmacy exists and holds the right licence.
Compare the full quote alongside the prescription process, pharmacy identity and licence checks.
Treat website seals as claims to check
Seals that look official and guarantees on health websites may be fake, warns the Federal Trade Commission.
Go to the board’s source record rather than relying on an image of a badge.
Ask about handling and problems
The FDA received reports of people needing hospital care after possible errors in measuring or calculating the amount of made-to-order semaglutide, in information checked September 26, 2026.
The reports included patients measuring the wrong amount and health workers calculating the wrong amount.
Ask the pharmacist to clear up any confusing label before use.
Some medicines need cold storage and others do not; use the rules for the named product.
By copying the effects of the body’s GLP-1 signal, these medicines affect blood sugar and hunger.
FDA guidance checked September 17, 2026 says a GLP-1 shot must not be used after a warm delivery or storage that was not cold enough.
Keep the label and ask the pharmacy to explain the product’s own storage rules.
Get urgent help for severe symptoms
A severe allergic reaction may cause breathing problems, a swollen tongue or swelling in the face.
MedlinePlus advice read September 17, 2026 calls for urgent help with severe allergic symptoms: dial 911 or seek care at an emergency room.
These signs are a reason to get help; they do not diagnose the cause.
If care or a product caused a problem
Patients can send medicine-problem reports through MedWatch, the FDA reporting service.
A report records a concern; it does not prove the medicine caused it.
Open the FDA reporting information
The complaint route depends on the doctor’s title, in information checked October 3, 2026. Send MD concerns to the Arizona Medical Board and DO concerns to Arizona’s separate DO board.