Name the medicine and its form
Semaglutide products include the approved names Ozempic and Wegovy. Tirzepatide has approvals as Mounjaro and Zepbound. Records checked November 3, 2026 show that the uses on their labels differ.
GLP-1 medicines mimic a hormone’s effects on appetite and on blood sugar. Ask which product and which form are being discussed. The active ingredient name helps you compare, but it does not replace the product information or the reason for proposing it.
Semaglutide now has both tablet and injection products under the Ozempic and Wegovy names. That product distinction was checked November 3, 2026, so a brand name alone does not identify the form.
FDA’s tablet-name record FDA’s semaglutide product information
Have the assessor put the goal of care into words you can use later. Keep that goal beside the product name. A general menu about weight, recovery or wellness is not a substitute for a discussion of the reason you sought an assessment.
Check whether the offer is a compound
A compounded product has no FDA approval of its own. That remained the federal position checked November 3, 2026, even when an approved medicine contains the same named ingredient.
National shortage status
The 503B name refers to registered facilities that make sterile drug batches. Sterile means free of living germs.
As of November 3, 2026, neither tirzepatide nor semaglutide appeared on FDA’s national shortage list or its 503B list of raw ingredients allowed for compounding. A 503B facility therefore cannot point to either list as permission to make these drugs from raw ingredients. An out-of-stock reply from a pharmacy is not evidence of a national listing.
FDA’s copy and shortage policy FDA on national shortage listings
Ask what patient-specific need the proposed compound would meet. Request an explanation of why the approved product does not meet that need. Keep that explanation separate from a quoted fee or a claim that the compound offers the same outcome.
A change for a particular patient
Federal rules restrict regularly making preparations that are essentially copies of available products. Under section 503A, a medicine is made for a named patient. To take a changed medicine outside the copy restriction, the prescriber must identify an important difference it produces for that patient and record that finding. One possible change is leaving out a dye to which that patient is allergic. The other compounding requirements still apply. These rules were checked November 3, 2026.
Adding a vitamin does not automatically take a preparation outside the copy restriction. FDA’s published example addresses semaglutide with vitamin B12; that position was checked November 3, 2026.
Do not confuse a compound with a generic
On November 3, 2026 there was no approved, marketable generic semaglutide or tirzepatide in the United States. A tentative approval does not allow marketing, and a compounded version is not an approved generic.
FDA application records FDA’s guidance on treatment advertising
If the word generic appears in an offer, ask what approved product the service means. Request the record for that product. The question is specific: it concerns the preparation being offered to you, not whether generic medicines exist in general.
Retatrutide and cagrilintide are not eligible for compounding under the federal position checked November 3, 2026. FDA has found no condition for which either is safe and effective.
Compare the continuing care as well as the offer
Ask how the plan will be reviewed and how questions reach the prescriber. Find out what happens if you want to discuss a change, seek another opinion or transfer records. Put those arrangements beside the price, rather than comparing the medicine charge alone.
Take the exact product name to your insurer when asking about payment. Ask the service for a written breakdown of consultation, medication and other fees. The cost and coverage chapters help you keep those different questions together without mistaking a headline rate for the whole plan.