Know what is being offered

A peptide is a substance made of small parts linked in a short chain, like a string of beads.

Insulin is one example of a peptide.

FDA is short for Food and Drug Administration, the agency responsible for regulating US drugs.

FDA approval means review of a particular drug and its evidence for a stated use.

Ozempic and Wegovy were among the semaglutide products with FDA approval in the US when checked September 26, 2026.

As of September 26, 2026, approved semaglutide products include options for managing weight or controlling blood sugar in type 2 diabetes.

That approval belongs to the product and its stated uses, rather than to every substance called a peptide.

Ask which product is meant and what condition it is being considered for.

Compounding means making medicine to meet a patient’s needs, with a doctor or pharmacist doing the preparation.

Compounded drugs lack FDA approval; this status was checked September 26, 2026.

Before compounded drugs are offered, FDA does not check their quality, safety or benefit.

FDA points to compounding when a person’s medical need cannot be met by an approved medicine.

Ask what need the approved product cannot meet.

That label says the product is meant for research, not for treating people.

In reports checked September 26, 2026, FDA found that some sellers used that label while offering products to treat people.

FDA found those products were unapproved drugs.

As checked September 26, 2026, the label gives no FDA approval to the product.

As of September 26, 2026, no FDA-approved US product was found for BPC-157 or ipamorelin.

Ask for the actual approval record, rather than relying on the wording of an offer.

FDA’s records, checked September 26, 2026, did not list semaglutide injections or tirzepatide as being in national shortage.

Here, a copy means a made-to-order version that closely matches a drug already available.

Under federal rules checked September 26, 2026, pharmacies and doctors cannot regularly make copies of available approved medicines.

An exception can apply when a change in the medicine makes a meaningful difference to one named patient.

Under rules checked September 26, 2026, the clinician who writes the prescription must decide why the change matters for that patient.

They must record that reason.

Ask what would be changed in the medicine and why it matters for you.

Ask for that reason in writing.

A lower price alone does not count as that important difference.