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Guidebook · Licence notes

A badge is not a licence check.

For an assessment of your health concern, begin with a licensed telehealth service or a medical clinic offering in-person visits. Ask who will actually treat you.

The misconception

Misconception: an FDA registration badge approves the service and everything it offers.

What holds up

Check the public record by name.

A business can appear in FDA records as “registered”, and a drug can appear as “listed”. As of September 2026, FDA says neither record means the business or drug is approved.

FDA also says it does not approve health care providers.

Use the treating doctor’s name and the pharmacy’s name for separate checks.

Evidence · A

Run the checks in this order

  • Ask for the treating doctor’s full name.

    The state office that licenses doctors is called the medical board. Its records show whether the doctor’s licence is current and list any public actions concerning the doctor’s conduct.

  • Use the board for your visit location.

    As of September 2026, a doctor must hold a licence or other legal permission covering treatment at your location during the visit.

  • If they claim an exception, ask for proof.

    Ask for the name of the state rule and written proof that it applies to your visit. Check that claim with the state office that licenses doctors, called the medical board.

  • Match the record to the person.

    Check that the licence is current, whether the board has limited the doctor’s work, and whether the name matches. Some states separate their medical boards by the letters after a doctor’s name: MD or DO. Ask which board keeps your doctor’s record.

  • If medicine is discussed, identify the pharmacy.

    Get the name of whichever pharmacy would prepare the medicine and send it to you. FDA points out that an online service’s users may not know the pharmacy or business that actually prepares their medicine.

  • Check the pharmacy with the state board.

    FDA links to each state’s list of licensed pharmacies. It advises you to avoid an online pharmacy unless it appears on that state’s list.

Evidence · BEvidence · C

What a licence check cannot tell you

A doctor’s record may show no public action, but that alone does not reveal the quality of their care.

A pharmacy licence does not show that every medicine it supplies follows the rules.

After checking the licences, ask what studies show about the proposed treatment. Also ask the pharmacy what rule allows it to use the exact ingredient it would give you.

Page evidence

  1. FDA: understand an approval claim

    Read the distinctions between approval, registration, and the kinds of businesses FDA approves.

  2. Find the relevant state medical board

    Use the board directory to reach the official record. Match the doctor type as well as the name.

  3. Find your state’s list of licensed pharmacies

    Choose the state where care is being received, then check the pharmacy named by the service.