In brief
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) handles the review of medicines.
Use the right record for the question at hand. Check the drug, the person and the pharmacy in their own records.
Prices and rules can change. Read the terms that apply now before making a choice.
A compounded medicine is made for a particular order instead of being supplied as the manufacturer’s finished drug.
Medicine status
- FDA: what “approved” means
Check what the agency has reviewed and what a badge means.
- FDA: drug approval files
Search for a drug and its approval file.
Made-to-order preparations
- FDA: drugs made to order
Read how drugs are made to order and who checks the process.
- FDA: concerns with drugs made to order
Read what can go wrong and which checks happen before use.
Weight-care copies
- FDA: shortages and copies
Check the dated record of shortages and the rules for copies.
- FDA: unapproved drugs for weight care
Read about false claims, poor products and checks to make.
Assessment and tests
- Board group: care by screen
Read suggested standards for online visits and for arranging care elsewhere. States can use this advice when setting their rules; the advice is not itself a law.
- Board group: when a drug is offered
Read why choosing a treatment from an online list is not enough on its own, and why patients need to be able to ask questions.
Records for the person treating you
- Find your state’s medical board
Follow this list from the Federation of State Medical Boards to the board that holds the doctor’s record.
- Read what a board record shows
Learn what you can check and what a clean record does not prove.
Pharmacy records
- FDA: check a pharmacy licence
Choose your state, then search for the pharmacy by name.
- FDA: registered makers of medicine batches
Ask whether your maker is a 503B outsourcing facility: a maker registered with FDA to prepare medicine batches for hospitals and clinics. This list covers those makers; it is not a list of every pharmacy.
Help after a drug arrives
- FDA: checking an online pharmacy
Read which checks to make and whom you can reach for help.
The full bill
- CMS: Medicare’s short-term weight-care plan
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sets out who can use the plan and how payment works.
Price terms
- Government price file: semaglutide (Ozempic)
Read who can use the offer, how long it lasts and the price after the opening period.
Terms for cover
- CMS: who and what is included
Read the full terms with the prescriber. A headline copay is not a promise that you qualify.
- CMS: how Bridge medicine payments work
Read how the temporary Medicare GLP-1 Bridge pays for medicine outside ordinary Part D insurance, and what your drug plan needs to check.
- CMS: BALANCE and state Medicaid medicine costs
BALANCE is an optional programme for states to arrange negotiated medicine prices and coverage terms. Ask your state Medicaid programme whether it has joined and what it covers for you.
Checking an offer
- FDA: claims about drugs made to order
Read which claims FDA says can mislead.
- Trade commission: how scammers ask for payment
Read why it matters when a seller will only accept certain ways to pay.
Help and reports
- MedlinePlus: a severe allergy
Read the signs of a severe reaction and when to seek urgent help.
- FDA MedWatch: report a problem
Use this route to send FDA a report about a drug problem.
State rules
- Idaho: rules for a drug order
Read Idaho’s rule on using a fixed online questionnaire as the sole basis for treatment.
- California: rules for an exam
Read when an online form can be used for an examination and the care the law still requires.
Read the records
- FDA: drug identification numbers (NDC)
National Drug Code, abbreviated NDC, is a number identifying a product within a drug listing. A number on this list does not prove FDA approval.
- FDA: notes on drug-problem reports
Read why a report cannot prove cause or show how often a problem happens.
- FDA: raw ingredients for drugs made to order
Read how the ingredient list is drawn up and which steps change it.
Keep the source with the question
Keep the page and the date you read it. Ask the person treating you, pharmacist or plan how that record applies to your choice.
If the record leaves a question open, ask it again. A gap does not back up a bold claim.