The short answer
For care over the internet, the Federation of State Medical Boards' guidance treats a fixed online form alone as insufficient; this is its position as of September 2026.
Under that guidance, patients must be able to raise questions of their own with whoever is providing care.
State medical boards come together in this federation; the guidance it produces is not a law covering every state.
Take these questions into the assessment
Start with the reason for care
- What do you think may explain the problem I want help with?
- What else could be considered?
- What is sermorelin meant to treat in my case?
Ask what needs checking
If a proper review needs tests or an exam, the boards' guidance calls for arranging them or sending you to someone who can.
- Does this assessment need tests or an exam?
- How will those be arranged?
- How would you arrange care if an online visit cannot cover what I need?
Ask how evidence fits your goal
- What evidence supports this use in adults?
- Did the study test the exact medicine you would prescribe for me?
- How would we judge whether the plan has helped?
Name the people doing each part
The state board of pharmacy is the place to check a pharmacy's licence.
- Who is doing the assessment, and where can I check their licence?
- Which pharmacy will handle both preparing my medicine and sending it to me?
- Who can answer questions after the visit?
Agree on follow-up
- What would we check at the next review?
- Who do I reach if I have an unwanted effect?
- What happens if I want to stop the plan?
Pause when the answers stay vague
If you cannot get a name for the person assessing you, a pharmacy name, a plan, and a quote, keep asking before agreeing to care.
The U.S. agency for medicine reviews has the full name Food and Drug Administration; these briefings use its initials, FDA.
For a pharmacy, requiring a prescription and having a pharmacist available are checks in the FDA's consumer guidance.
“Research use only” is a label for chemicals sold for laboratory work, not patient care.
Those chemicals are not medicines; buying them for your own injections is not lawful treatment.
If you see that label, pause the purchase and ask the doctor and pharmacist about medicine made for you on a prescription.
Keep a question
Keep the question most likely to get lost during the visit.
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Brief source notes
- Medical boards' prescribing guidance
This guidance explains why patient choice alone is not a medical assessment.
- Medical boards' telehealth guidance
This covers further questions and arranging tests or an in-person visit when needed.
- FDA checks for an online pharmacy
Use these checks alongside the state licence record.