Check these points
Pause at a missing prescription
As of September 26, 2026, dispensing prescription medicine is against federal law when there is no valid prescription.
Ask how the assessment happens and who is responsible for the prescription.
Pause at claims of identical approval
FDA refers to the federal agency for drug review: the Food and Drug Administration.
A compounded medicine comes from a pharmacy or another medicine-making business that makes or changes it for a patient.
As of September 26, 2026, the FDA says it is misleading to call a compounded medicine “FDA approved”. It also rejects calling one “a generic version” of an approved medicine or claiming it is the same as that medicine.
An ingredient can have a general name. That name alone does not make a pharmacy-made medicine an approved copy of a brand-name product.
If the seller claims approval, ask for the FDA page confirming approval of the exact product and its approved label. A prescription, ingredient name or pharmacy licence does not show product approval.
Pause at an unclear source
As of September 26, 2026, the FDA reports fraudulent compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide labels naming pharmacies that do not exist.
Check the pharmacy’s name in the state record. Ask it to confirm that it supplied the product.
Notes that explain the checks
A low price is only part of the picture
FDA guidance calls out implausibly low prices, missing prescriptions or licences, and the lack of a pharmacist to answer questions.
Compare the full bill and the licence records together. Price alone cannot answer the care questions.
Keep records if there is a dispute
Keep the offer, bill and messages. Write down which part of the care or charge you want reviewed.
Massachusetts doctor complaints go to the medicine board; pharmacy and physician-assistant complaints go through the state health department, as of September 30, 2026.
The Massachusetts Attorney General takes complaints about business practices, as of September 30, 2026.