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Stop signs

Claims that need an answer

# Know when to pause.

Pause when the basic checks remain unanswered. A lower price or a polished page does not supply the missing clinician, pharmacy or product explanation.

Question to carry

Pause at a prescription-medicine offer that skips a prescription.

## Terms to start with

FDA means Food and Drug Administration, the US body that reviews medicines.

FDA approval is a review of a particular medicine. A compounded preparation has not gone through that product review.

A clinician is a health professional who reviews your concern and talks through care with you.

Compounding is the preparation of a medicine to order by a pharmacist or doctor.

An FDA-registered medicine-making site can also prepare batches, often for clinics and hospitals.

A prescription is an order for a medicine from the health professional prescribing it.

## A closer look at the words

FDA approval concerns a particular finished medicine. Ask for the product record when an offer claims that approval.

Read the offer

## No prescription or an untrue approval claim

As of September 2026, supplying prescription medicine without a valid prescription breaches federal law. [The federal prescription rule](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title21-section353&num=0&edition=prelim)

As of September 2026, FDA describes claims of its approval for compounded medicines as false or misleading. [FDA’s guidance on approval claims](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/fda-telehealth-companies-what-know-when-promoting-compounded-drugs)

Ask for an explanation in writing. If the answer repeats the claim instead of naming the medicine and the person who would prescribe it, pause. Do not pay until you have those answers.

Pause at a prescription-medicine offer that skips a prescription.

Pause at an approval claim for a compounded preparation.

Look more closely

## “For research use only” alongside treatment claims

Look for the words “for research use only” on a research label. Another wording is “not for human consumption”. It describes a product meant for studies, not for people to use as treatment.

FDA’s position, checked in September 2026, is that research-labeled weight-drug products marketed for human use have unknown quality and may be harmful. [FDA on research-labeled products](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-alerts-and-statements/fdas-concerns-unapproved-glp-1-drugs-used-weight-loss)

As of September 2026, FDA’s position is that federal law forbids compounding retatrutide or cagrilintide. [FDA on these proposed treatments](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-alerts-and-statements/fdas-concerns-unapproved-glp-1-drugs-used-weight-loss)

Keep the exact name in your notes. Ask a clinician about care for your concern rather than treating a research label as a route to care.

Look for a product explanation that matches the label.

Ask for the current basis for a compounding claim.

Look more closely

## Nobody available after the medicine arrives

FDA’s checklist, checked in September 2026, warns about telehealth offers that leave patients without a licensed doctor to answer questions after they receive medicine. [FDA’s consumer checklist](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-alerts-and-statements/fdas-concerns-unapproved-glp-1-drugs-used-weight-loss)

Ask who answers questions about the treatment or how you feel after taking it. Read the answer before paying. A contact form alone does not explain who would handle your concern.

Identify the person who would answer a treatment question.

Ask what happens if that person is unavailable.

Carry this forward

## A severe reaction needs urgent help

In MedlinePlus guidance checked in September 2026, difficulty breathing and a swollen face or tongue are signs of a severe allergic reaction. [The US health guide on severe allergic reactions](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000844.htm)

That guidance calls for emergency care when symptoms are severe. [Read the emergency-care guidance](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000844.htm)

A billing question can wait. A severe reaction calls for urgent care rather than waiting for a routine message reply.

Keep in mind

## The chapter recap

Pause over a missing prescription, a false approval claim, a treatment labeled “for research use only” or nobody to answer treatment questions later.

[Plan the follow-up](/follow-up-checklist/)

These pages help you weigh care; this guide runs no clinic and sells no medicine.

[Text version](/stop-signs/index.md)