Austin, Texas Source desk
What counts as evidence?
Ask which exact product a claim is about. Evidence means the research or other information offered to support a claim.
The US medicine-review agency is the Food and Drug Administration, shortened to FDA.
A pharmacist or doctor makes compounded medicine rather than providing medicine finished in a factory.
The product claim
The same ingredient name does not prove the same result.
Myth
A study of an approved product proves a pharmacy-made version gives the same result.
As of September 2026, FDA guidance rejects the claim that a compounded medicine has been proven to match an approved product’s results.
Two products with the same ingredient name are not proven to work the same way just because the names match.
The official-looking claim
A government listing does not prove approval.
Myth
A government product code proves approval.
An NDC number does not show that a drug has approval, according to FDA as of September 2026.
NDC stands for National Drug Code, a number that identifies a product on a government list.
As of September 2026, registering a drug-making site with the FDA also does not mean its products are approved.
The names that come up
Some popular names have no approved US product.
BPC-157, ipamorelin, epitalon and MOTS-c are peptide ingredient names; none has a US-approved medicine for any condition as of September 2026.
If one is offered for your knee, weight, or another health problem, ask what it is supposed to do and what research in people supports that use.
Retatrutide is a drug being studied for weight loss; it has no US-approved product as of September 2026.
Cagrilintide is another drug ingredient without an approved use, named in FDA’s warning about unapproved weight-loss products.
As of September 2026, FDA says pharmacies and doctors are barred by federal law from making medicines with retatrutide or cagrilintide.
FDA’s BPC-157 review found too little information to know whether it would harm people.
As of September 2026, a meeting or vote by experts who advise the FDA does not itself let pharmacies use an ingredient in medicine.
The FDA must change the rule through a formal process that lets the public comment.
A headline about a meeting is not the same as a rule change. Ask for the product’s current status, not just a headline.
Words you may hear
A small working glossary.
- Peptide
A short string of joined pieces called amino acids, like beads on a string; the same pieces also make up proteins.
- Compounding
Making medicine by mixing or preparing ingredients instead of supplying a finished factory product.
- Telehealth
Care received remotely, with a video visit as one example.
- Generic medicine
A copy that has passed the FDA’s approval process.
- Prior authorization
The insurer’s advance decision about paying for a prescribed medicine.
- Adverse event
A health problem reported while someone uses a medicine, such as a possible side effect; the report does not prove the medicine caused it.