A government record is a place to start, not the whole answer.
Check what the record actually says. A number on a medicine and a business on a list do not answer every question.
Facts checked as of September 26, 2026.
A product code versus approval
An NDC code
FDA is short for Food and Drug Administration. In the US, this agency reviews medicines.
National Drug Code is the full name behind NDC. This number identifies a medicine on an FDA list.
As of September 26, 2026, FDA said a number in that list did not prove approval or show that FDA had checked the details supplied with the medicine listing. a
The company listing the medicine supplies those details.
Ask to match the number to the exact medicine being offered. Ask for its separate FDA approval record.
An approval claim
Match the exact product and form with the evidence offered.
FDA says it is misleading to use a product code to create an impression of approval.
A code and an approval are separate checks.
Being on a list versus being approved
A medicine-making business on a list
Registration puts a medicine-making business on an FDA list. Drug listing means the business has supplied information about a medicine for a list.
As of September 26, 2026, the federal rule said being registered or having a medicine on an FDA list did not mean FDA approval. b
It also did not prove that the medicine could legally be sold.
A pharmacy licence
Use the state record to check the pharmacy’s licence. c
A licence record does not prove that the pharmacy was right to supply a particular medicine to a particular patient.
Ask the product question as well as the licence question.
Read a warning letter with its limits
FDA publishes a list of letters about possible rule breaches that you can search by business name. d
A letter sets out the problems FDA suspects when it writes to the business. This letter does not give a final decision. Later contact between FDA and the business may change the issues described.
Finding no letter does not prove that the business follows every rule. FDA may never have reviewed it.
Save the page being claimed as proof. Ask which sentence supports the exact claim, and what the sentence leaves out.
A real record can still be used to imply more than it proves.
Run the name and licence check