Check the status
Check the rules for your medicine
Check the exact medicine and your state.
To check whether a treatment is allowed, ask about the exact medicine, your prescription, who makes it and the state where you will be treated.
The care check
NAME.CHECK.Bring the open question.A prescription is part of the check
As of September 2026, US federal law required a valid prescription from a licensed practitioner to supply a prescription medicine.
As of September 2026, online prescribing rules also varied by state, including rules for form-based and phone-only visits.
Ask the service which state rule applies where you will be during the visit.
Rules limit making copies of approved medicines
As of September 26, 2026, semaglutide and tirzepatide did not appear on FDA’s national drug shortage list.
The national list affects when making a copy is allowed. An empty shelf at your local pharmacy does not place a medicine on the national list.
As of September 2026, a shot could still count as copying an approved medicine despite an added vitamin, when medicine ingredients matched and amounts were similar. The rules limit making these copies.
For an individually named patient, the prescriber can document why changing the medicine makes an important difference. A lower price alone does not count.
For example, an allergy to a dye may create a need for a medicine made to order. Ask what change meets your own medical need.
A research label is not permission to use it as medicine
In warning letters recorded by September 2026, FDA said some sellers marked chemicals “for research use only” while promoting them as medicines for people. FDA said those products were unapproved drugs being supplied unlawfully.
These were FDA’s accusations against particular sellers, not court decisions. Do not treat a “for research use only” label as proof that a product is allowed for your care.
Retatrutide and cagrilintide are names you may encounter in offers for weight-care drugs. As of September 2026, FDA said neither could legally be used to make a medicine to order.
Semaglutide salts are different forms of semaglutide, with names such as semaglutide sodium or semaglutide acetate. FDA says these ingredients differ from approved semaglutide. It knows of no lawful basis for using them in medicines made to order.
Ask for a product-specific explanation when a service offers a general answer about peptides being allowed.
Read the record
- Read how shortages affect making copies of medicines
FDA explains the national shortage list and when a medicine made to order counts as a copy of an approved drug.
- Read FDA’s product concerns
Read why retatrutide and cagrilintide cannot be made into medicines to order, and why semaglutide salts are different ingredients from approved semaglutide.