Ask who will treat you and get their name
Ask for the full name, professional role and licence details of the person who will assess you.
For a doctor, open your state medical board's licence search. Look for a current licence, any listed punishment, and any formal charges the board is still considering.
If the record uses words you do not know, ask the board what they mean for the doctor's permission to work.
The medical boards' directory below links to the state boards themselves.
Some states have more than one board that licenses doctors. Ask the doctor's office which board to use, then choose it from the state-board list below.
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are health professionals whose prescribing rules depend on the state.
Find out which board in the state keeps that person's licence record.
As of September 26, 2026, a health professional's permission to give remote care depends on the state where the patient is located.
Check the pharmacy separately
Get the name of whichever pharmacy makes or supplies the medicine, including the pharmacy name printed on the container.
A different state office keeps pharmacy licence records: the state board of pharmacy.
The FDA, the US medicine regulator, links to state pharmacy searches on its pharmacy-check page.
If that state's licence list does not include the pharmacy, the FDA's advice is to avoid it.
As of September 26, 2026, most states also require permission for an out-of-state pharmacy to ship medicine to their residents.
Ask the board about the pharmacy and your state if the record is unclear.
Treat a badge as a question, too
Seals and logos that look official may be fake on health websites, warns the Federal Trade Commission.
Being registered with the FDA was not proof of approval for a business or its products as checked September 26, 2026.
Even when a licence record lists no punishment or formal charge, the quality of care remains a separate question.
Keep the board page, the pharmacy name and the written answers together. Use the same check for each option.
A closer look at the source
Start with the records, then ask about care
The state board's record is the place to check a licence; a polished website is not a record.
A pharmacy licence does not show whether every medicine it supplies is right for the patient.
Ask the pharmacist to explain the exact medicine supplied, and check unclear product details with the person treating you.
Information as of September 17, 2026.