VERIFY · SOURCE OF THE MEDICINE
Check the pharmacy behind the label
The care site and the pharmacy may be different businesses. The pharmacy name is the key that makes the medicine traceable.
Ask for the name before payment
Get the registered pharmacy name and the state where it operates. If the medicine is compounded, meaning mixed to order rather than made in a drug factory, ask which kind of place made it.
- A regular pharmacy preparing a medicine for a single, named person who holds a prescription.
- An outsourcing facility: a larger site that makes batches of sterile medicines, often for clinics and hospitals.
As of September 2026, your state pharmacy board is the main day-to-day watchdog over an ordinary compounding pharmacy, while the FDA is the main watchdog over registered outsourcing facilities, which must follow drug-factory quality rules.
FDA compounding guideAs of September 2026, most states require a pharmacy outside the state to hold authority in the patient’s state before shipping there.
State pharmacy board directoryRun the record
- Search the pharmacy’s registered name.
- Confirm the licence is active.
- Look for public discipline or restrictions.
- Check that the licence covers the state receiving the medicine.
- Match the label to the name you checked.
As of September 2026, FDA advises skipping any online pharmacy you cannot find in the right state’s licence database.
FDA pharmacy licence searchAs of September 2026, an FDA registration, or an NDC number (a code that identifies a drug product in a government directory), does not prove that a product or facility is approved.
FDA approval explainer