Pause when a prescription is missing
Federal law checked in September 2026 made it illegal to supply a prescription medicine if there was no valid prescription.
If an offer skips the prescription, do not count it as evidence that the medicine needs no assessment. Ask a doctor or another person licensed to provide care about the proposed treatment.
Pause on claims of approval or sameness
Medicine reviews in the US are the work of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Compounded describes a medicine prepared to order.
In September 2026, FDA said a claim that a custom medicine was approved, was a generic, or was equivalent to an approved drug would be false or misleading.
A generic medicine is a version of a brand medicine that has approval. Ask whether the offered medicine is approved or made to order. Get the answer in writing.
Can an official-looking seal settle the check?
The Federal Trade Commission warns that health-site seals and logos that appear official can be faked, as can money-back claims.
Match the doctor and pharmacy to the appropriate board records.
Pause when you cannot tell who made the medicine
By September 2026, FDA had found false labels on custom-made semaglutide and tirzepatide naming pharmacies that did not exist.
Some other false labels used the name of a licensed pharmacy that had not made the product.
Ask who makes and supplies the medicine. Check the name in the state pharmacy record.
Ask it plainly
What is the maker’s full name, and where can I verify it?
Pause on the price and payment terms
FDA warns about prices so low that the offer seems hard to believe.
Real cash prices and approved generic prices can also sit below the drug company’s published price; a cheap offer by itself is not proof of a scam.
In July 2026, the Federal Trade Commission warned about demands to pay only by bank transfer, digital money, a payment app, wire transfer, or gift card.
Digital money is often called cryptocurrency. A wire transfer sends money from one bank to another.
Check the price alongside the prescription, the pharmacy name, and the payment demands. Ask for the full bill, cancellation terms, and exact medicine name.