Following the evidence · An explainer
What can a source actually tell you?
You do not need to read a whole law or a long report to ask a useful question. Choose the statement you are unsure of. Then see how far the source goes in supporting it.
Read the source for the question it can answer.
When reading an answer, keep the medicine's full name beside the date. Check the form too: is this product supplied as tablets, injections, or something different? Ask whether the source is about that exact product, rather than a similar-sounding one.
For example, neither registering a business nor listing a drug at FDA established approval of the business or any of its products. That was the position as of September 26, 2026.
Federal regulation · Registration and approvalThe initials FDA refer to Food and Drug Administration. Federal medicine review is its responsibility.
An answer about a registration can be useful, but it does not answer the product-approval question.
A licence record and a warning letter answer different questions.
A state medical-board record lets you check a doctor's current licence. It also lists public actions taken by that board against the doctor. A record without public action leaves the quality of care unrated.
Medical boards · Reading a doctor recordYou can search FDA's collection of warning letters by company name. Each letter says what FDA believed the company did wrong at that time. Later replies or a letter saying the issues were addressed may change whether the warning still applies. Check for those later records, and ask the health professional what the warning means for your care.
FDA · Search the dated enforcement lettersFinding no letter gives you no basis to say a company was reviewed and cleared.
Ask which question the record can answer. If it leaves a gap, keep the gap visible in your notes.
A report raises a question about cause; it does not settle it.
An adverse event is an unwanted experience associated with use of a medical product.
FDA · The meaning of a reported eventFDA says an event report alone cannot establish that the medicine was responsible. Its reports also cannot tell you the rate at which an event happens.
FDA · Limits of the problem-report dashboardBring the report and the exact medicine name into a care discussion. Ask the health professional to explain what is known and what remains uncertain.