IRVINE / THE WORDS
Is this real medicine?
Ask which medicine is being offered and whether FDA has reviewed it. A vague yes is not enough.
A FINISHED PRODUCT
Approved for a named use.
- FDA
- Food and Drug Administration is the full agency name behind FDA. It reviews medicines in the U.S.
FDA approval means a particular product has passed the agency’s review for a stated use.
By the September 2026 check, U.S. approval covered semaglutide products Ozempic and Wegovy, plus tirzepatide products Mounjaro and Zepbound.
That does not answer whether a particular medicine fits your own situation.
Read the weight-medicine cardMade to order is different.
- Compounded medicine
- A drug made to order, rather than a finished medicine supplied with approval.
At the September 2026 check, compounded drugs lacked FDA approval. Before sale, FDA had not reviewed these drugs for safety, quality or how well they worked.
Understand compoundingA research label is no shortcut.
As of September 2026, FDA had warned sellers that research labels did not excuse marketing unapproved drugs for people.
Those letters set out what FDA said the firms did wrong; they are not court decisions.
Unpack the research labelCHECK THE MEDICINE NAME
But it says registered.
In September 2026, having a business or drug listed with FDA did not mean FDA approved that business or its medicines.
A business that registers to make batches of made-to-order medicine chooses to put itself on FDA’s register.
NDC is short for National Drug Code. This product code did not count as approval either.
Ask for the medicine’s page in Drugs@FDA, the government’s approval records. Match the medicine name and form, such as tablet or injection.
Open FDA’s medicine approval search