Pause when the answers get thin.

No prescription is a reason to stop

Federal law requires a prescription from someone legally allowed to write it before a pharmacy supplies a prescription medicine.

A physician assistant, nurse practitioner or doctor may write it.

Ask for that person’s name and licence type. Ask the pharmacy to confirm that the person can prescribe this medicine and that your prescription is valid.

Watch for a “not for human consumption” label or the words “for research purposes”. FDA, the federal drug agency, warns against products with those labels being sold for patient use. These products could harm patients, and their quality has not been established.

Ask what exact medicine would be prescribed and which pharmacy would supply it.

What sounds like approval?

When a medicine is made to order, the process is called compounding. That product has no FDA approval, and its quality, safety or effects get no FDA review before marketing.

Being “FDA registered” means a business is listed with the agency. Being listed does not show that FDA approved either the business or its medicines.

An NDC is a drug listing code. It does not establish FDA approval either.

Ask whether FDA approved the exact product you are being offered. A badge or a code does not answer that question.

Check the name, not just the word “peptide”

FDA’s application records showed no approved BPC-157 product as of September 26, 2026.

FDA also says its information is too limited to know whether BPC-157 would harm people.

As of September 26, 2026, FDA says federal law prohibits using retatrutide and cagrilintide in compounding.

These names may appear in ads. Each needs a product-specific answer; a general claim about peptides is not enough.

If a delivery or an instruction seems wrong

Storage needs differ by medicine. The product label and the instructions from the pharmacy supplying it are the place to check.

GLP-1 medicines copy a natural body signal that affects appetite and blood sugar.

If a GLP-1 shot arrives warm or with too little refrigeration, FDA advises against using it.

As of September 26, 2026, FDA had reports of harm that may relate to mistakes with made-to-order semaglutide shots. Patients measured the wrong amount, or care professionals calculated it incorrectly. Some reports involved hospital care.

Before using it, have the pharmacist walk you through the label and demonstrate how to measure the amount prescribed. Ask again if you cannot repeat the instructions in your own words. Ask what to do about a damaged or doubtful delivery.

Get help without delay

A severe allergic reaction needs emergency care

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that can be life-threatening.

Severe breathing trouble or swelling of the tongue can be signs; seek emergency care for severe symptoms.

Where a concern can be reported

Both MD and DO mean that the person is a doctor; look at the letters after your doctor’s name to choose the board.

For a doctor with MD after the name, report concerns to the Medical Board of California. For a doctor with DO after the name, use the Osteopathic Medical Board.

California’s pharmacy board handles prescription errors and pharmacist conduct. Ordinary drug-price and insurance disputes fall outside its role.

Patients can also report a medicine problem to FDA through MedWatch, its reporting programme.

Reporting a problem is a separate step from getting medical care.