When a sales pitch does not add up

A prescription cannot be treated as optional

U.S. law requires a prescription before a prescription medicine is supplied to you.

The person writing it must be licensed by law to prescribe that medicine.

Ask who assesses you and who writes the prescription. Ask for that person’s licence details.

Check claims that made-to-order means approved

FDA is short for the Food and Drug Administration. Compounded describes medicine prepared for a particular patient’s need.

It is false to describe a compounded medicine as having FDA approval.

FDA also calls it misleading to describe a compounded drug as identical to an approved drug or proven to produce the same result.

Ask for the actual product and its status. A broad assurance leaves the question open.

A research label does not make it treatment

FDA warns people against weight-loss products marketed for human use with research-only labels; the products may be harmful and their quality is unknown.

“Research use only” describes a laboratory purpose, not a care plan for you.

Do not let the pharmacy remain a mystery

FDA has identified fake compounded medicine labels that named nonexistent pharmacies or pharmacies that did not prepare the product.

Ask which pharmacy supplies the medicine. Look for its name in your state’s pharmacy licence search. Ask why the names differ if you find a mismatch.

The pharmacy note shows where to find that record.