[Go to the answer](/decision-points/#answer)

[Treatment questions](/)

A plain-language guide to understanding care

- [What is this?](/)

- [Is it approved?](/decision-points/)

- [Who gives care?](/getting-started/find-care/)

- [What will it cost?](/plan-costs/)

- [What needs a pause?](/pause-and-check/)

- [What can I read?](/reading-list/)

Understand the offer

# Is the medicine approved, and is the offer lawful?

Those are separate questions. Begin with the exact product, then ask which rules apply to the way it is being supplied.

## Approval belongs to a medicine

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) reviews individual medicines for particular uses.

It does not approve doctors’ offices as health care providers.

- Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) has FDA-approved products.

- Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) also has FDA-approved products.

- An approved brand name does not give a made-to-order version that same approval.

## Compounding has conditions

A compounded medicine is prepared to order. Compounding can meet a medical need, but it does not make every ingredient or copied product lawful.

- Ask why an approved finished medicine cannot meet the specific need.

- Ask the prescriber what makes a preparation made to your order necessary.

- Ask which pharmacy makes it and how to check that pharmacy.

- Do not treat a lower price as the answer to the approval question.

## A registration number is a different thing

FDA registration does not establish approval of a facility’s medicines.

National Drug Code is what the letters NDC stand for. It is a code used to list a drug product in an FDA drug list. A medicine can have this listing code without having FDA approval.

- Ask what the number identifies.

- Ask for the approval record for the actual finished medicine.

- Keep the answer separate from the prescriber’s licence check.

Next question

[What if it is made to order?](/decision-points/made-to-order/)

## Ask about this exact medicine

Does that approval cover the medicine I would receive, or something else with a similar name?

### Keep this in mind

Ask about the product in front of you. A broad claim about all peptides leaves the particular offer unanswered.

US care facts as of September 2026.

## Reading for this question

- [FDA: read an approval claim closely](https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/it-really-fda-approved)

A useful starting point for distinguishing a medicine’s approval from official-sounding claims about a business.

- [FDA: what a National Drug Code means](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-approvals-and-databases/national-drug-code-directory)

Read this when an offer treats an NDC number as evidence that a medicine is approved. The number is for listing a drug, not for showing that it is approved.

Keep a question open

- [Where do I begin?](/)

- [What does peptide mean?](/step-one/)

- [Is the medicine approved?](/decision-points/)

- [What if it is made to order?](/decision-points/made-to-order/)

- [Where can I look for care?](/getting-started/find-care/)

- [How do I check the names?](/getting-started/check-licences/)

- [What is an online visit like?](/getting-started/online-visit/)

- [Which questions can I bring?](/ask-next/)

- [What about tests and follow-up?](/ask-next/tests-and-follow-up/)

- [What will the whole plan cost?](/plan-costs/)

- [Could insurance help?](/coverage-check/)

- [What calls for a pause?](/pause-and-check/)

- [What might go wrong?](/risk-check/)

- [What can I read for myself?](/reading-list/)

Use these pages to prepare for care. This guide provides information; it neither sells medicine nor operates a clinic.

[Read this page as text](/decision-points/index.md) [Guide text index](/llms.txt) [All guide text](/llms-full.txt)