No rush past missing answers
Pause when an offer skips the prescription, hides the pharmacy or treats an advert as proof. Ask for the missing answer before going further.
Is the seller skipping the prescription?
Federal law, as of September 26, 2026, prohibits supplying U.S. prescription medicine without a valid prescription.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes checks for an online pharmacy. Check that it asks for a prescription, holds a state pharmacy licence and has a licensed pharmacist available for questions.
A polished website cannot establish that a pharmacy is properly licensed.
Use your state’s pharmacy licence search to check the name, rather than relying on how the website looks.
Is the claim doing all the work?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says a health ad can appear without any government agency first approving it.
Ask for the evidence behind a recovery promise. A confident phrase or a seal on a page is not that evidence.
As of September 26, 2026, describing a medicine made to order as “FDA-approved” is false; no such approval covers these medicines.
What can go wrong with poor preparation?
Compounded means made into a medicine to order.
Poorly prepared compounded medicine can carry germs or have an incorrect amount of the ingredient meant to treat you, either too little or too much.
Ask who answers questions about the actual product and whom you can reach after the visit.
When a reply cannot wait
Tongue swelling or difficulty breathing can be warning signs of a severe allergic reaction.
MedlinePlus describes severe allergic reactions as medical emergencies; get emergency care without waiting for a message back.
These warning signs call for help; they do not identify what caused the problem.
Keep going
Put the unanswered questions on paper