Check the claim
Source check: does the evidence answer your question?
Ask for the study behind the claim. Then ask whether it tested the medicine, the people and the problem being discussed.
Who took part?
Was the work done in people, in animals or in a lab? Were women included? Ask whether pregnancy or breastfeeding was part of the study.
If the offer is about changes in your periods or sexual wellbeing, ask whether that concern was actually studied. Leave a blank where the answer is unknown.
Was it the same product?
Ask whether the study tested the same ingredient and form as the proposed medicine. Ask whether it tested a branded product or a medicine made to order.
The FDA warns against claims that studies in people proved a made-to-order medicine gave the same results as an approved product. As of September 26, 2026, it called those claims false or misleading.
What changed for the people in the study?
Ask what was measured. Did it describe how people felt or functioned, or only a lab test? What was the treatment compared with? How long were people followed?
Ask whoever provides your care to describe the result using everyday words.
What can a problem report tell you?
A report of a problem after a medicine does not by itself show that the medicine caused it.
The FDA says the frequency of a problem cannot be worked out from those reports.
Ask what the full evidence shows about both benefit and harm.
What remains unanswered?
Ask the person providing your care to say which parts are known and which parts are uncertain. Ask how either answer changes the plan for your own concern.
You can take time to read the source and return with questions.