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Care, checked.

A workbook for your care search

The evidence check

# Ask what backs the treatment

Name the claim before opening the study

Ask the doctor to write down the change they expect. Then ask for the source that supports that change.

Claim Name the promised change

Source Ask who was studied

Limit Ask what is still unknown

Keep each claim beside its source.

## Ask who was studied and what changed

Ask whether people received the treatment in the study, or whether it was tested only in animals or a lab. Ask whether the people studied had a problem like yours.

What did the study measure? Did it measure the change you want? Ask what did not improve, what problems were reported, and what is still unknown.

## Keep a research note

Exact treatment studied

Who took part

Change the study measured

Problems reported

What does this tell us about my goal?

## Separate a product code from approval

The US drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), keeps a directory of product codes called National Drug Codes (NDCs).

The FDA says a code in that directory does not show product approval, as of September 26, 2026.

Read the FDA note on product codes

If someone gives you a code, ask for the approval record as well. Keep the code and that answer on separate lines.

FDA: what a drug code means

## Ask about medicine made to order

Compounded medicine is prepared to order, instead of being supplied as a finished product from a factory.

Before compounded medicines are sold, the FDA does not review their safety, results, or quality, as of September 26, 2026.

Read the FDA note on compounded medicines

Ask why this medicine needs to be made to order. Ask for research on a medicine with the same ingredients and the same amount of the part that does the work. Ask whether it was taken in the same way.

FDA: compounding explained FDA: problems with compounding

## Carry this forward

Match the research to the treatment and your goal.

Write down the limits as well as the hoped-for change.

Understand the visit →

This workbook is a guide for checking care, not a clinic where care is given or a seller of treatments.

Look at the evidence Read this chapter as text Read the check path as text

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Opening page Begin with your goal Check a licence Read reviews Check the evidence Understand visits Name the medicine Write out the cost Check coverage Plan for problems Take your questions