Question the whole offer
Before saying yes,
get a clear answer.
Bring these prompts to a visit or keep them beside you during a call. Leave a check blank when an answer is missing.
Check what you know.
Keep asking about the gaps.
Questions for the conversation
Space for your answers
The person
Who will assess me?
Could I have your full name, job title and licence details?
A state medical board grants doctors a licence: permission to practise medicine.
The board also shows formal charges and steps it has taken to discipline a doctor for breaking its rules.
A clear record shows no such action, but does not measure how well the person provides care.
If a record shows a charge or punishment, read what the board decided. Check whether the person has permission to treat you now.
If someone other than a doctor will see you, ask for their job title. Then ask them to name the state board where their licence is recorded.
Your notes
The medicine
What exactly am I being offered?
Please name the medicine, its form and the reason you are suggesting it.
The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA for short, is the agency that handles US medicine reviews.
A medicine prepared for an order by a doctor or pharmacist is called compounded.
US status checked in September 2026: a compounded product has no FDA approval, even when its pharmacy is licensed.
Ask which applies: an approved product or a custom mix. If it is custom-made, what need is an approved medicine unable to meet?
Your notes
The pharmacy
Who makes and sends it?
Can I have the pharmacy’s name before I agree to treatment?
FDA’s licence tool opens the pharmacy records held by each state.
As of September 2026, FDA says to check the online pharmacy in your own state’s licence list and skip it if it is missing.
A listing confirms a licence, not the quality of a particular medicine.
Ask who prepares the medicine as well as who sends it. Carry those names into the licence check.
Your notes
The visit
Can we talk through my health?
How will you assess me, and can I ask follow-up questions?
Guidance from medical boards, checked in September 2026, says choosing from a menu of drugs without a real assessment is below proper care.
The guidance also requires a chance for patients to put their own questions to the person giving care.
State rules for online prescribing differ as of September 2026; this guidance does not replace each state’s law.
Under medical-board guidance, any needed tests must be done by the doctor or arranged for you.
If you need an exam in person, the doctor must send you to someone who can give that care.
Ask who will help you arrange that visit or test, and how to reach them.
Bring notes about the help you are looking for and the questions you do not want to forget.
Your notes
The cost
What is the whole bill?
What will I pay at the start, and what will I pay after that?
Cash prices are what you pay outside insurance.
As of September 2026, makers’ cash prices for approved diabetes and weight-loss drugs were mostly $149 to $499 per month.
For some products, the price goes up if you order more medicine after the offer’s refill deadline.
Ask for the last date to order your next supply at the quoted price. Ask what you would pay if you order later.
Depending on the product, a month refers to either a pack or a supply for 28 days.
Some online services charge both a membership fee and a separate medicine bill, as of September 2026.
Ask for a written total that spells out visits, medicine, tests and delivery. If insurance is involved, give your plan the specific product name and the health problem it is prescribed to treat, and ask about both.
Ozempic and Wegovy contain semaglutide: Ozempic treats type 2 diabetes, while Wegovy is used for weight loss.
Tirzepatide is in both Mounjaro and Zepbound; Mounjaro treats type 2 diabetes, while Zepbound is used to lose weight.
As of September 2026, introductory cash offers for Ozempic and Wegovy ran through December 31, 2026.
Savings cards for Mounjaro and Zepbound, brands of tirzepatide, also had that end date.
Those printed end dates do not promise what the price will be afterward.
The price range above is background, not a quote for your care. Ask which offer, if any, is in your bill, when it ends and what you would pay next.
Ask what you would owe if you stop the service. Keep any price that cannot yet be confirmed marked as unknown.
Your notes
The next conversation
Who answers after the visit?
How do I reach someone if I have a question or something changes?
For online weight-loss care, FDA guidance checked in September 2026 flags the lack of a licensed doctor to contact once the medicine is delivered.
Ask who handles later visits and questions. If you need care from a different doctor, who will help arrange that visit?
Write down their name and how to reach them before deciding.
Your notes
Give yourself time
Pause at these claims.
Keep the decision open while a claim or an answer needs checking.
No prescription needed
Under US law as of September 2026, dispensing a prescription medicine requires a valid prescription.
An approval claim that does not fit
As of September 2026, FDA says claims that a compounded drug has approval or is identical to an approved drug are misleading.
Research labels with human-use directions
FDA’s September 2026 guidance warns against weight-loss drugs marketed for human use with research labels, says their quality is not known and warns they may cause harm.
Further reading
Check names
and claims here.
Open the pages below to look up a doctor or pharmacy. Compare what you were told with the care checks above. If a name is missing or an answer conflicts, leave the box blank and ask for an explanation.
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Federation of State Medical Boards Find the board for a doctor’s record
The medical-board directory points to state records. Use the doctor’s full name when you reach the board’s search.
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U.S. Food and Drug Administration Open your state’s pharmacy check
This FDA page routes you to pharmacy licence records. Use the dispensing pharmacy’s name for this search.
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Federation of State Medical Boards Read the guidance on a real assessment
Read why the person treating you must assess your health rather than simply accept your choice from a medicine menu.
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U.S. Food and Drug Administration Explore FDA’s concerns about weight-loss care
This is the longer reading behind the research-label and follow-up checks. Start with the consumer guidance.
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TrumpRx (trumprx.gov) Look at a government cash-price example
Look for the starting price, later prices and who can get the offer. Ask for those details in your own written quote.
Still getting your bearings?
Return to the first read