Before a decision
Before you start, get the full medicine name
Start with a name you can check. A vague offer to help with changes in your body does not tell you which medicine is being offered.
What exactly is being offered?
Ask for the full medicine name in writing. Find out its form: a tablet, a shot or a product put on the skin.
A peptide has a short chain of small parts, rather like a string threaded with beads. The word peptide does not mean a medicine is approved, as of September 26, 2026.
Which name belongs to the ingredient?
A generic name identifies the medicine itself; a brand name identifies a particular product.
For example, Ozempic and Wegovy were approved products containing semaglutide on September 26, 2026.
Ozempic and Wegovy each come as tablets and as injections, as of September 26, 2026.
Ask which product and form the person providing your care means.
Does a skin product tell you about an injection?
A cosmetic skin product and an injected medicine fall under different rules, as of September 26, 2026.
What the product is meant to do also matters: claims about treating disease or changing how the body works can make a product a drug in law, as of September 26, 2026.
Ask for evidence about the form being proposed. If an offer says a skin cream helps, ask for separate evidence about the medicine given as a shot.
What is it meant to treat?
Ask the person providing your care to name the condition they think explains your concern. Then ask why this product fits that condition.
What would count as progress? How would you know the plan needed a fresh look? A clear answer can be written in ordinary words.