IRVINE / THE WORDS
Does a research label settle anything?
It does not answer the question that matters: is this a medicine that can lawfully be supplied for human care?
WORDS ON A LABEL
Look beyond the label.
FDA uses the full name Food and Drug Administration and reviews medicines in the U.S.
“For research use only” is wording you may find on a label. A different warning, “not for human consumption”, says the product is not for people to take.
In letters checked in September 2026, FDA called these products unapproved drugs when sellers advertised them for people to use.
The reasoning relied on what the websites claimed the products would do.
A warning letter states what FDA says was wrong; it is not a court’s decision.
What does the test report say?
If someone offers a test report, ask what was tested and which medicine it matches.
Was the ingredient tested before it was made into the medicine, or was the medicine itself tested? What did the test measure?
Ask separately: has FDA approved this medicine? Which rule allows it to be supplied to me?
A code is not an approval.
- NDC
- An identifying code used in a drug directory. NDC is short for National Drug Code.
As of September 2026, FDA said a product’s directory entry or NDC number did not establish FDA approval.
Ask for the product’s record in FDA’s approval search. Compare its name and its form: tablet or injection.
Search FDA’s approval recordsWhat if a request to FDA was taken back?
People or groups can ask FDA to consider an ingredient for use in made-to-order medicines.
FDA lists some ingredients whose requests were taken back by the people who made those requests.
As of September 2026, withdrawing a request for compounding review did not count as FDA approval.
Taking a request back is not the same as the agency accepting it.
What about the newer weight compounds?
Under federal law, compounding with retatrutide or cagrilintide was not allowed, according to FDA’s September 2026 position.
FDA also said neither substance was an approved drug ingredient, and neither had been established as safe and effective for any condition.
See how to read the evidence