Words & medicines

What does “research use only” leave out?

Treat the phrase as a label to question. It does not answer whether the product is a medicine for your care.

Read the offer as well as the label

FDA is the national agency for medicine reviews. Read “FDA” as “Food and Drug Administration.”

These letters concern particular firms and describe FDA’s allegations; they are not court judgments.

Keep the product name and the treatment claim together when asking the person caring for you about an offer.

A product code does not settle approval

National Drug Code

The government directory uses an identifying number for each listed drug product: its National Drug Code (NDC).

Ask for the product’s approval record, rather than accepting a directory screenshot as the answer.

Use the exact name when asking

Online peptide offers include names such as retatrutide, BPC-157, and ipamorelin. The September 26, 2026 search found no entries for these names in FDA’s public records of applications for drug approval.

The search showed no FDA-approved US product for those names. A missing entry is not a refusal of approval. The search also did not tell us whether each substance could legally be made into a medicine to order. Ask about that separate question for the exact substance.

Check the claims in an offer