Skip to the answers Care questions Cost notes Care field guide Source trail What to avoid Source trail · the medicine # How do I know what is being offered? Get the exact medicine name. Then ask which record backs the claim. The quick answer ## Which kind of product is it? Ask whether it is an approved product, a custom-made medicine, or a product still being studied. When a doctor or pharmacy makes medicine to meet a patient’s needs, that work is called compounding. Keep that distinction beside any claim about how well a treatment works. Read the exact product record ## What does approval tell me? Medicines and their specific uses are reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration, called the FDA. At the September 26, 2026 check, FDA approval covered semaglutide products under the names Ozempic and Wegovy. It also covered tirzepatide products under the names Mounjaro and Zepbound. Approval belongs to the product and its named uses; it does not cover every treatment described as a peptide. Ask: “What condition would this product treat for me, and where is that use listed?” Keep this distinction clear ## What if it is custom-made? At the September 26, 2026 check, no FDA approval applied to compounded medicines. Before sale, the FDA does not review how well they work for the claimed use, their safety, or their quality. Compounding may meet a need for medical care that an approved medicine cannot address. Why older claims can mislead ## What changed after the shortages? The FDA keeps a national list of medicines in short supply. At the September 26, 2026 check, the list included neither tirzepatide injections nor semaglutide injections. The shortages had allowed pharmacies to make their own versions of those injections. By that check, the deadlines for stopping those copies had passed. The shortage no longer gave permission to make copies. Under regular pharmacy rules, a change made for one named patient may qualify for an exception to the limits on copies. The person writing the prescription must judge the change to make a medically important difference for that patient. A price cut by itself does not qualify as that medical difference. An allergy to a dye in an approved medicine is one example of a need that compounding may address. Ask: “What medical need does the change meet for me?” A label is not a care plan ## Is “research use only” a route to treatment? At the September 26, 2026 check, FDA says federal law bars retatrutide and cagrilintide as ingredients for compounded medicines. FDA also says no condition has been shown to be treated safely and effectively by either one. At that check, FDA warned against weight-loss products labeled for research and marketed to people, citing unknown quality and possible harm to health. Check what the record means ## Can a product number settle it? A National Drug Code is a product-identification number. At the September 26, 2026 check, FDA stated that having that code does not mean a drug has approval. Request the approval record for the exact product on offer. A number by itself does not answer that question. Sources to open ## Where can I check these answers? FDA: approved semaglutide uses in Wegovy The product’s own reviewed information. National Library of Medicine: the Zepbound label Reviewed information for this tirzepatide product. FDA: custom-made medicines What compounding can meet and what the agency does not review. FDA: shortages and limits on copies The dated updates behind the change in compounding rules. FDA: research-labeled weight-loss products The statements about retatrutide and cagrilintide. FDA: what a drug code means Why a directory entry is not proof of approval. Take a question with you ## What would you like to ask? Your saved notes stay in this browser. Anyone using it may see them. Keep a separate copy if you need one. Your questions Save in this browser Clear saved notes Read what to avoid Keep these pages beside your own notes: this is a guide, with no clinic services or medicine sales. Main questions Read as Markdown