Compare
Which kind of product is being offered?
Ask for the exact medicine name and how it is made.
First sort the offer into one of three groups: FDA-approved medicine, medicine made to order, or a product labelled only for laboratory research.
The US drug review agency is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Compare the product categories
An approved medicine
Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) illustrates FDA approval for named uses, as of September 26, 2026.
Ask which problem it would treat and what form you would receive: a pill, an injection, or something else. Ask for the strength shown on the label.
A made-to-order medicine
A compounded medicine is prepared to order instead of supplied as a manufacturer’s finished product.
Compounded medicines have no FDA approval and receive no agency review before sale, as of September 26, 2026.
As of September 26, 2026, a medicine prepared to order can fill a need left unmet by an approved product.
It still has to meet the rules described below.
A product labelled “for research use only”
That label means laboratory research, not permission to use the product as treatment.
FDA warning letters, checked September 26, 2026, described sellers promoting these products as medicines for people.
FDA said those products were unapproved drugs being sold unlawfully.
What makes a made-to-order offer lawful?
An ordinary pharmacy making medicines to order must have a valid prescription naming the patient, as of September 26, 2026.
If an official quality standard exists for the raw ingredient, it must meet that standard.
Without such a standard, the ingredient must either occur in an approved drug or be on the legal list of extra allowed ingredients.
The ingredient also needs a testing record, and its maker must be registered with FDA.
Have the pharmacist name the rule permitting that particular ingredient.
These are some of the checks; a prescription alone does not settle every legal requirement.
Registration is a different check
As of September 26, 2026, neither a facility’s registration nor a drug’s listing grants FDA approval.
An NDC, or National Drug Code, identifies a listed product; that code is no proof of approval, as of September 26, 2026.
Ask what is actually on offer
- Please name the exact medicine and tell me whether I would get a pill or an injection.
- Is this a finished product or one made to order?
- Which pharmacy would make it or supply it to me?