The product
Name the medicine.
Trace its source.
Ask which exact product is planned and which pharmacy will supply it. Then ask why the person treating you is proposing it for your medical need.
Approved and made to order are different
Compounded describes a medicine made to fill an order.
In the September 2026 check, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had not approved compounded products.
As of September 2026, FDA did not assess a compounded medicine’s safety, quality or ability to work before it went on sale.
Ask what need a made-to-order product would meet that an approved product cannot.
The source and the medical need
Ask who actually supplies it
An online care user may lack the name of the pharmacy or other maker that prepared the medicine, FDA says.
Get the pharmacy’s name before accepting the plan. Match it to the name on the label.
FDA’s state lookup links to pharmacy licence records.
The record can show that a pharmacy has a licence. It cannot prove you will receive the correct medicine, amount or label directions.
Open the state pharmacy lookupAsk why this product is being made
As of September 2026, federal rules limited making close copies of medicines already on sale.
As of September 2026, a pharmacy-made version could differ from an available medicine to meet one patient’s medical need. The professional writing the prescription has to decide that this change makes a real medical difference to the patient.
Paying less, by itself, is not a medical reason for making the change, as of September 2026.
A change for a patient with an allergy to a ready-made medicine’s dye is one example.
Ask which parts of your medicine would differ and why that difference is needed for your care.
Old shortage claims need a new check
The September 2026 check found that semaglutide and tirzepatide were both absent from FDA’s national shortage list.
When a drug appears on FDA’s nationwide shortage list, pharmacies may gain permission for copies that the rules would otherwise restrict, as of September 2026. One pharmacy running out does not create that permission.
These medicines are used in weight and diabetes care.
Ask whether an offer depends on an old shortage claim.
FDA approval cannot be established by a medicine code
NDC means National Drug Code. In September 2026, that code was no proof of FDA approval for a medicine.
The code is a number used to name a drug product in a government list.
Ask for evidence about the exact medicine, not just its code.