Raleigh care guide · Read the evidence
Match the evidence to the medicine
If a page says “proven,” ask what was studied and for which health problem. A broad promise is not the evidence itself.
Ask what was studied
Get the product name and whether it was given as a pill, a shot or another way. Ask which health problem and which people the study looked at. Do those details match the medicine and care being offered to you?
Then ask for the source. Read what the study measured and what the result means for the decision you are trying to make.
Understand an off-label use
Using an approved medicine for a purpose or health problem outside its FDA-approved instructions is called off-label use. FDA is the US drug-review agency.
The label gives the medicine’s official uses and instructions.
As of September 2026, North Carolina’s Medical Board expected new or off-label treatments to rest on sound evidence and avoid overpromised benefits.
Its guidance called for a clear account of possible harms, benefits, costs and gaps in the evidence.
Ask which parts of the explanation are established and which are still uncertain. Keep those answers separate in your notes.
Check what a badge really proves
Registration means a drug-making business has given FDA its details. A drug listing gives FDA details about a product. As of September 2026, neither record meant FDA had approved the medicine or that it could legally be sold.
FDA also said a National Drug Code, a product-identifying code in its directory, did not prove approval.
Ask for the medicine’s own approval record. A business record or product number does not answer whether FDA has approved that medicine.