In brief
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) handles the review of medicines.
Write the claimed benefit in plain words. Then ask which evidence supports that benefit for the product and use being proposed.
Keep the answer specific. A page about peptides in general does not identify the treatment in front of you.
A compounded medicine is made for a particular order instead of being supplied as the manufacturer’s finished drug.
Ask whether it is the same product
FDA’s guidance reviewed on September 26, 2026 identified claims of equal results between a compounded drug and an approved product as misleading.
Compounded preparations are not checked by FDA for safety, quality or benefit before marketing.
Ask whether the cited evidence studied the product being offered. Note any part of the answer that relies on an assumption rather than a direct match.
Approval and registration answer different questions
A clinic may display an NDC, meaning National Drug Code, as an identifier for a drug listing. As of September 26, 2026, having that number did not mean FDA had approved the product.
A maker’s FDA registration or an entry in an FDA drug list did not prove that the product could legally be sold.
Ask what a displayed number is meant to show. Ask for the medicine’s approval record or an explanation of why it can legally be made to order; a number alone does not answer that question.
What a problem report can tell you
In FDA’s explanation, a report about a drug problem cannot by itself establish that the drug was the cause. The report alone does not show that medical checks confirmed what happened or how often the problem occurs.
To find out how often a problem occurs, ask for research on the actual medicine. A count of reports alone cannot tell you the chance of it happening to you.
Check the date of the claim
A vote from FDA’s advisers on compounding remained advisory as of September 26, 2026; it did not alter the law. To add a raw ingredient to the extra list allowed for ordinary pharmacies making medicines to order, FDA had to propose a rule, invite public comments and complete its review before issuing a final rule.
Ask whether a headline describes a proposal, advice or a completed decision. Keep the date and the exact status in your notes.