Red-flag notes · checking an offer
A clear offer can answer clear questions.
A reassuring look can still leave basic questions unanswered. Pause long enough to get names, records, and an explanation.
The myth
The badge means someone checked everything.
A seal is not the same as a state record
The Federal Trade Commission warns that health seals can look official yet be fake, as can money-back claims.
Federal law on September 26, 2026 required a licensed prescriber’s order for a pharmacy to supply prescription medicine. A prescription is that order for your medicine.
Pause to verify the source if the offer would skip that order.
Use the Colorado record checkSource note A ↓The myth
A compounded version carries the original drug’s approval.
Compounded approval claims need a pause
A compounded medicine is prepared for a specific order. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews ready-made medicines for approval.
Calling a medicine prepared to order “FDA-approved” was a false claim on September 26, 2026. The FDA has not reviewed that compounded product’s safety, results, or quality before sale.
Ask what product the approval claim actually refers to.
Source note B ↓The myth
A name on a label proves who made the medicine.
The pharmacy name needs to be checkable
On September 26, 2026, FDA reports described some labels for compounded tirzepatide and semaglutide that named pharmacies falsely.
Ask for the identity of the pharmacy that both prepares the medicine and sends it. Compare that answer with the label and Colorado’s public record.
FDA guidance flags damaged packaging, unclear instructions, and no clinician available for questions after delivery.
FDA reports available on September 26, 2026 described people needing hospital care after they measured the amount of a compounded semaglutide shot incorrectly. The measuring errors may have caused the harm; the reports alone do not prove that. Ask the prescriber or pharmacist to resolve unclear instructions; do not work them out from an online calculator.
Source note C ↓A license complaint does not get your money back
Colorado’s Division of Professions and Occupations takes complaints about clinicians and pharmacies.
As of September 26, 2026, those licensing boards can act on a license but cannot award refunds or settle fee disputes.
The Colorado Attorney General accepts consumer complaints about misleading ads, billing, and scams. That office does not represent you or take on your individual case.
Colorado · professional-care complaintsColorado · consumer complaintsSource note D ↓Keep the source close
Notes behind this page
- FDA · checks for buying from an online pharmacy
FDA’s pharmacy checklist includes a valid prescription and a state license.
- FDA · misleading compounding claims
In guidance current on September 26, 2026, the FDA says made-to-order medicines cannot truthfully be called FDA-approved.
- FDA · medicine labels and delivery concerns
As of September 26, 2026, FDA reports include false pharmacy names, delivery problems, and harm that may be linked to measuring the wrong amount.
- Colorado · what licensing complaints can do
Colorado’s licensing boards can act on a license, but cannot give you a refund or settle a dispute over the bill.
Turn the page
Source notebook · make sense of the evidence