Question desk · Bring these to a visit
The questions that come next.
No need to learn all the terms before asking for help. Name the part that is unclear. Ask for a plain answer and keep a note of it.
Visits and deciding what care you need
Telehealth is care by video, phone, or an online system.
Does the first visit have to be in person?
Controlled drugs have extra federal rules because they can be misused. Being outside that group does not mean other prescribing rules disappear.
Semaglutide is the ingredient in Ozempic injections for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy injections for losing weight and keeping it off.
Tirzepatide is the ingredient in Mounjaro injections for type 2 diabetes and Zepbound injections for losing weight and keeping it off.
Federal law does not place semaglutide or tirzepatide in the controlled-drug group, as of September 2026.
For medicines outside the controlled-drug group, federal law, as of September 2026, generally does not require an in-person visit before an online prescription.
As of September 2026, Washington allows a care relationship to start through telehealth, with the standards for comparable in-person care still applying.
Ask whether an exam in person is needed to answer your own medical question.
Will I need blood tests?
There is no general federal requirement for blood tests before each prescription, as of September 2026.
That does not answer what tests your care needs. Ask which test is proposed, what it will show, and who will discuss the result.
The national medical boards’ model policy says needed tests must be completed, arranged, or handled through a referral.
A referral means sending someone to another health professional. This model policy is guidance, not a nationwide law.
Read the medical boards’ model policyCan a nurse practitioner examine me and prescribe?
A nurse practitioner is a nurse licensed for advanced work such as diagnosis and treatment.
As of September 2026, Washington nurse practitioners can examine patients, decide on care, and treat them without a supervising doctor.
They still need the nursing board’s separate approval to prescribe medicines.
Ask for the person’s full name and prescribing credentials.
The product and the promise
The initials FDA stand for Food and Drug Administration. It reviews medicines in the US.
Does “registered with the FDA” mean reviewed?
FDA registration does not give a business or its drugs the agency’s approval, as of September 2026.
A drug’s National Drug Code, often shortened to NDC, does not prove FDA approval either, as of September 2026.
An NDC is a product code in a government directory.
Read what the FDA actually approvesIs a compounded medicine the same as a generic?
A brand-name medicine’s approved counterpart is called a generic. Compounding is the process of making a medicine for a particular order.
As of September 2026, compounded drugs lack FDA approval.
As of September 2026, no US generic version of semaglutide or tirzepatide was approved and allowed to be sold.
Tentative approval means the FDA review found that a drug application met its standards, but the medicine still cannot be sold. Usually this is because the original medicine still has patent protection or an exclusive right to be sold.
Do not assume that a made-to-order version has gone through the generic approval process.
What can I ask about a promising study?
Ask for the study and the exact product it tested. Ask who took part, what was measured, and what it means for your own care.
A clear question can be simple: what evidence supports this exact treatment for this exact problem?
Where a complaint goes in Washington
A physician assistant is a licensed medical worker.
A doctor with MD after their name goes through the Washington Medical Commission. DO after a doctor’s name means doctor of osteopathic medicine; a different Washington board licenses these doctors.
Look for those letters in the state licence record to choose the complaint office.
Next: check the source behind a claim