The medicine chapter
Start with the medicine’s full name and ask which pharmacy fills your prescription. Ask separately who makes and ships the medicine. Then check what the service says about both the medicine and pharmacy.
FDA is short for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
A drug with FDA approval has passed the agency’s review for a stated use.
Semaglutide (Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Zepbound) had FDA-approved weight-management uses as of September 26, 2026.
Preparing a medicine to order for one particular patient is called compounding.
At the September 26, 2026 check, compounded drugs had no FDA approval.
FDA does not check these drugs before sale for safety, quality or whether they work.
FDA says a made-to-order drug may meet a need that an approved drug cannot.
Ask what need this version would meet for you.
In advice checked September 26, 2026, FDA warned against research-labelled drugs sold for human weight-loss use.
FDA warns that these products could harm people; their quality is unknown.
FDA urges consumers to avoid those products.
As of September 26, 2026, the FDA no longer listed semaglutide and tirzepatide injections as being in short supply nationwide.
The FDA had allowed extra time before taking action over copies made because of those shortages; that extra time had ended.
The law limits how often pharmacies and doctors can make close copies of medicines that are already available.
A change to the medicine can qualify for an exception when the person writing the prescription finds it makes a significant difference for that patient.
FDA gives the example of leaving a dye out of a medicine for a patient with an allergy to that dye.
A lower price alone does not qualify a medicine for that exception.
An added vitamin does not by itself change the copy rule.
Reports reviewed September 26, 2026 described mistakes with the amount of compounded semaglutide used.
Some people in those reports needed hospital care.
Before using a medicine, have your prescriber or pharmacist explain any directions that are unclear.
FDA advises against using these weight-loss injections if they arrive warm or have not stayed cool enough; we checked that advice on September 17, 2026.
Ask the pharmacy to check a delivery that concerns you. Ask how to store that exact product.
Find the pharmacy licence lookup