Make words clear

What do these care words mean?

Keep this word list beside an offer you are reading. Ask the person explaining care to use words you can repeat back.

The US drug review agency is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Compare the label with its meaning

Words such as compounding or prior authorization can make a short answer hard to follow.

Who prepares the medicine? Has the plan agreed to pay? Ask for that answer in plain words.

A care word is most useful when you know what question it answers.

Peptide: A short chain of small parts, much like a strand of beads; these building parts also occur in proteins, and insulin is a peptide medicine.
Telehealth: A health visit conducted by screen, phone, or information sent for later review.
Compounding: Making a medicine to order by a pharmacist, doctor, or a place that makes batches and registers with FDA.
FDA approval: The US Food and Drug Administration reviews a specific medicine for a named use.
State medical board: The body holding public records of a doctor’s licence and published actions against that licence.
Accreditation: For a PCAB badge, an outside group checks how the pharmacy makes medicines against national quality rules.
Formulary: An insurance plan’s list naming the medicines it may cover.
Prior authorization: Permission the insurance plan requires before a prescription is filled.
Active ingredient: The substance in a medicine meant to produce its effect.
Unwanted event: An undesirable experience while using a medical product; reporting it by itself cannot establish the cause.

PCAB accreditation checks the work process, not each batch or how well a treatment works.

A pharmacy still needs a licence; accreditation does not replace it.

Registering a place with FDA does not mean its made-to-order medicines have FDA approval.

As of September 26, 2026, an NDC, or National Drug Code, does not establish FDA approval of a product.

Ask which official record answers the specific question you have.