Reasons to pause an offer

The prescription step is missing

Under US law as of September 2026, a patient needed a licensed health professional’s prescription before a prescription medicine could be supplied or sold to them.

Pause if the offer promises to bypass that prescription step. Ask who will assess you and make the prescribing decision.

A research label sits beside treatment claims

In letters checked in September 2026, FDA, the US drug-review agency, treated products promoted for human use as drugs despite research-only labels.

The letters alleged unlawful sales across state lines of unapproved drugs; they were claims against specific firms, not court findings.

A research label does not provide a plan for care. Put it beside the claims on the page and ask what medicine is actually being offered.

Approval wording does not match the product

Compounding makes medicine to order. FDA’s warning, as of September 2026, called these claims about such medicines misleading: “FDA-approved”; “a generic version of an approved drug”; or “studies in people prove it gives the same result as an approved drug.”

An existing medicine can have an approved version called a generic.

The last claim promises proof from studies in people. Ask to see the study and the medicine’s own approval record when these claims appear.

The pharmacy is hard to identify

FDA has found fraudulent compounded products labelled with nonexistent pharmacies or the name of a pharmacy that did not prepare them.

Get the complete name of the pharmacy filling your prescription. Check its licence record. If the names do not match, ask why before paying.