Ask which medicine is meant.

Ask about the product’s approval.

Drug products are reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, usually shortened to FDA.

FDA-approved products as of September 2026 include the semaglutide brands Ozempic and Wegovy and the tirzepatide brands Mounjaro and Zepbound; their uses depend on the brand and cover blood-sugar control for type 2 diabetes or weight management. [a]

Ozempic and Mounjaro are used for diabetes; Wegovy and Zepbound are used for weight management. [a]

Ask which product and health problem the plan concerns. Ask whether it is a finished drug-company product or one a pharmacy makes for your needs.

A pharmacy-made drug needs its own explanation.

A pharmacist or doctor can prepare medicine suited to an individual patient’s needs instead of providing the drug company’s finished product; this is compounding. [b]

As of September 2026, no FDA approval applies to compounded medicines, whose safety, benefit, and quality the agency has not reviewed before marketing. [b]

Under the September 2026 rules, compounding can be legal, but the pharmacy must follow rules about which ingredients it can use; a patient’s medical need alone does not settle that question. [b]

That is not permission to make any ingredient into a medicine. [b]

A regular pharmacy must use an ingredient that meets any existing official drug-quality standards; where none exist, the ingredient must occur in an approved medicine or on FDA’s allowed-ingredient list. [b]

For a regular pharmacy making a medicine for you, the September 2026 rules also require a valid prescription for you and limit copies of medicines already available. [b]

Ask why an approved medicine cannot meet your need, which pharmacy will make it, and which ingredient and copy rules that pharmacy is following.

Ask the pharmacist to identify the rule and explain how the ingredient qualifies; ask your prescriber to explain any change you need.

An earlier shortage leaves this question open.

FDA’s shortage list as of September 2026 contains neither semaglutide injection nor tirzepatide. [c]

Under the September 2026 rules, a regular pharmacy cannot routinely make copies of a commercially available drug. [c]

Your prescriber may judge that changing the medicine would make a significant difference for you; the decision must explain your individual medical need. [c]

For instance, an allergy to a dye may mean a patient needs medicine prepared without that dye. [b]

Under the September 2026 guidance, adding vitamin B12 to semaglutide may still make a copy if it is taken the same way, such as by injection, and is about the same strength as the available product. [c]

Ask for the written explanation of what needs to change for you and why; adding a vitamin alone does not answer that question.

Check claims about newer ingredients.

As of September 2026, retatrutide is a drug ingredient being studied for weight management, with no FDA-approved medicine yet. [e]

Cagrilintide is another drug ingredient; as of September 2026, FDA has not found it safe and effective for any health problem. [d]

FDA states that federal law, as of September 2026, prohibits making compounded medicines with retatrutide or cagrilintide. [d]

Ask for the FDA approval letter and official medicine label if approval is claimed; check that they name the exact product and health use.

If there is no approval, ask whether the offer is pharmacy-made care or a research study. Ask the pharmacy to explain which rules it follows; for a study, ask for the study’s official details.