Trace the names to public records

Get the names in writing

Ask for the full name, profession and licence details of the person who would treat you. Ask for the pharmacy’s full name too. Keep those details with the offer so you can compare the same names throughout.

Compounded medicines are prepared to order. FDA warns that people getting them through online care services or pharmacies may not know who actually made them.

The service offering care and the pharmacy making your medicine can be different businesses. Ask who will prescribe, who will supply the medicine and who will answer medicine questions.

Find the treating professional’s record

To check a doctor’s licence, search the public record held by the state medical board. Check whether the board has published a penalty against that doctor or brought formal charges.

The state-board directory is maintained by FSMB. That is the Federation of State Medical Boards.

Use that directory to reach the relevant board, then search the name and compare the licence details. For another health profession, ask for the name of its licensing board and search that record.

If no penalty is listed, none has been made public in that record. Good care is a separate question that this record cannot answer.

In the September 2026 guidance, the patient’s location determines which state permission matters for a remote visit.

Find the pharmacy’s board record

Pharmacy licences are recorded by state boards of pharmacy, separately from doctors’ licences.

The state pharmacy searches can be reached through FDA’s licence-lookup page.

Search the full pharmacy name. Hold that result beside the written offer, and ask the board about a detail you cannot match.

For a pharmacy absent from the state licence database, FDA’s advice is to avoid using it.

Keep a mismatch open

Ask for an explanation if a name, state or licence detail does not match. Keep the question open until you understand the answer. A polished page or a reassuring badge cannot answer it for you.

A registered business or a listed drug has not necessarily earned FDA approval for that drug. This was the federal position checked in September 2026.

Even a pharmacy licence does not prove that every item it dispenses is appropriate.