SOURCE FILE / CHECK BEFORE DECIDING
THE PEOPLE
Which names can I check?
A licence is the state's permission to do that work.
A doctor or physician assistant
Physician assistants hold a licence to treat patients. They are health professionals, rather than doctors. As of September 28, 2026, North Carolina physician assistants could prescribe medicine. Some needed a doctor's written instructions; others qualified to prescribe as part of a medical team.
Ask who will examine you and who will write any prescription.
As of September 28, 2026, North Carolina's Medical Board offered a free licence search for doctors and physician assistants. It shows whether their licence is current and any public board actions.
Public board actions are steps the board has taken against a licence.
Open the doctor and physician assistant sources
A nurse practitioner
Nurse practitioners are nurses who check health problems and can prescribe medicine.
To check a nurse practitioner's licence, use the Nursing Board's search, which covers that role.
Open the nurse practitioner source
The pharmacy
The Pharmacy Board keeps a separate licence search for pharmacies and pharmacists.
A pharmacy located outside North Carolina needs a state permit before it sends prescription medicine into North Carolina, as of September 28, 2026.
Open the pharmacy sources
A clean board record means the board took no public action. It gives no rating of care quality.
What evidence can I ask for?
Ask what studies in people support the exact medicine for your health issue.
An approved medicine used beyond its approved purposes is called off-label use.
As of September 28, 2026, North Carolina's Medical Board expects people offering new or off-label treatment to explain the studies behind it. They also need to explain possible harms, costs and what is still unknown.
Ask what is still unknown, what other choices exist, and who handles follow-up.
Sources for discussing new treatments
These are the board's explanations of existing laws and rules. They guide investigations and decisions about complaints. They do not create new laws. They show how the board expects care to meet the laws already in force.
WHEN MEDICINE SELLERS CUT CORNERS
What would make me ask again?
As of September 26, 2026, handing over a prescription medicine without a prescription breaks federal law.
The US agency that reviews medicines is called the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A compounded medicine is mixed to suit a patient, instead of coming as a ready-made product.
The FDA warns, as of September 26, 2026, about ads that say a medicine mixed for a patient is the same as an approved product.
The FDA lists another warning sign in advice checked on September 17, 2026: no licensed doctor to answer questions after your medicine arrives.
Ask how to reach that doctor before paying.
Sources for these checks
When is it an emergency?
Severe allergic symptoms can include trouble breathing or a swollen tongue.
For severe symptoms, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away.
Source for urgent help