A FormBlends network publication
Compounding Explained

How to use the pharmacy vetting checklist

Ten answers in, a printable list of verification steps out. What each question is really asking, why the tool never scores an offer, and how to work through the list in an afternoon.

By FormBlends editorial teamUpdated September 4, 2026Educational, not medical advice

Pharmacy vetting checklist generator

Open full calculator

What you know about the offer

Adds the board link for that state. Links checked 2026-09-04.

Your checklist (15 items)

Generated 2026-09-04. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

  1. 1. Identify who is compounding and who is prescribing

    • Get the legal name, street address and state licence number of the pharmacy that will fill the prescription, in writing, before paying.

      A telehealth brand or clinic is rarely the dispenser. You cannot verify a pharmacy you cannot name.

    • Ask whether the product is made by a 503A pharmacy (patient-specific prescriptions, state board oversight) or a 503B outsourcing facility (FDA-registered, CGMP, may ship in bulk to clinics).

      Where: FDA: human drug compounding

  2. 2. Licences

    • Look up the pharmacy's licence on your state board of pharmacy site, and on the board of the state where the pharmacy is located.

      Where: NABP: state boards of pharmacy directory

    • Also search the board of the state where the pharmacy is physically located. Disciplinary history is usually posted by the home-state board, not the non-resident one.

      Where: NABP: state boards of pharmacy directory

  3. 3. Legal basis for the product

    • Confirm that a licensed prescriber issues a patient-specific prescription after reviewing your history, and that you can obtain a copy of it.

    • Ask what the stated basis for compounding is now that the FDA shortage listings for tirzepatide (resolved December 19, 2024) and semaglutide (resolved February 21, 2025) have ended. A lawful answer names a documented, patient-specific clinical difference from the approved product determined by your prescriber, not a price.

      Where: FDA: clarifies policies for compounders as GLP-1 supply stabilises

    • Ask which form of the active ingredient is used. FDA has said it is not aware of a lawful basis for compounding semaglutide sodium or semaglutide acetate; approved products use the base form.

      Where: FDA: concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss

    • Look for the words 'research use only', 'not for human consumption' or 'RUO' anywhere on the site, label or invoice. A product sold that way is not a compounded drug and no pharmacy or prescriber stands behind it.

      You were unsure; check the fine print and the vial label photo.

    • Note any claim that the product is 'the same as', 'generic', 'FDA approved' or 'bioequivalent to' Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Zepbound. FDA's 2025 and 2026 warning letters treat such claims as false or misleading; compounded drugs are not FDA approved.

      Where: FDA press release, March 3, 2026: warning letters to 30 telehealth companies

  4. 4. Quality documents

    • Ask for a certificate of analysis for the specific lot you will receive. If none exists, ask what release testing the pharmacy performs and who performs it.

      A COA is a lab report, not an approval. It tells you the lot was tested; it does not tell you the drug works.

    • When the product arrives, check the dispensed label: your name, the prescriber, the pharmacy's name and address, the drug and concentration in mg per mL, the beyond-use date and storage instructions.

    • Search the pharmacy's name on FDA's compounding actions page and in the warning letters database.

      Where: FDA: compounding inspections, recalls and other actions

  5. 5. How the offer is sold

    • Get the refund, cancellation and auto-renewal terms in writing, including what happens to a subscription if the prescriber does not renew.

    • Check that the intake asked about your medical history, current medicines, pregnancy or breastfeeding, personal or family thyroid cancer history and pancreatitis. An intake that only asks for a weight and a card number is a warning sign.

    • Know where to report a problem before you need to: FDA MedWatch takes reports from patients on compounded drugs.

      Where: FDA MedWatch: report a problem

Compounded drugs are not FDA approved and are not interchangeable with brand products. This checklist lists things to verify; it does not score a pharmacy, rank offers, or recommend one. It is educational and is not medical or legal advice.

The tool above asks ten questions about an offer you are considering and produces a checklist tailored to the answers. Here is what each question is doing and how to work the output.

What the questions are really asking

  • What kind of offer is it? A telehealth program, a clinic and a pharmacy are three different entities, and only one of them dispenses. Choosing telehealth or clinic adds the prescriber checks.
  • What is being offered? GLP-1s carry the shortage-resolution and salt-form questions; other peptides carry the Category 2 check; anything else gets the base list.
  • Your state. Adds the licence-lookup link for your state's board and the non-resident licence reminder. Links were checked on the date shown in the tool.
  • Who makes it? If they have not said, the list tells you to ask. If it is a 503B facility, the list sends you to FDA's registry row for that facility.
  • Have they named the pharmacy? If not, item one is to get the name. Nothing else can be verified without it.
  • Is a prescription required? If the answer is no, the legal section stops there, on purpose.
  • Sameness claims, research wording, COA offered, where you found it. Each toggles an item on or off.

Working the list

Print it or copy it to a notes app. Then, in order:

  1. Identify (section 1) usually takes one email to the program. Ask for the pharmacy's legal name, address and licence number, and the prescriber's name and credential.
  2. Licences (section 2) take ten minutes per board. Use the links; the how to verify a licence page shows what the lookup screens look like and what "active" does and does not mean.
  3. Legal basis (section 3) is the conversation with the program and your prescriber. The what compounders may do now page gives you the background so you recognise a real answer.
  4. Quality documents (section 4) means asking for the finished-product COA and reading it against the certificate of analysis guide.
  5. How it is sold (section 5) is the commercial hygiene: refund terms, intake quality, and knowing where MedWatch is before you need it.

What the tool is not

It is not a rating, a recommendation or a legal opinion. It does not tell you which programs pass. It does not know anything about the specific pharmacy you are looking at; it knows what FDA and the state boards publish and where. The reviews site in this network evaluates named programs against a published rubric; this tool is for the ones nobody has written about yet, including the one you are talking to right now.

Questions people ask

Why does the tool refuse to give a score?

Because the facts it would score are the ones you have not verified yet. A checklist that said 'this pharmacy is 8 out of 10' before you looked up the licence would be inventing a number. The value is in the looking, and the output is the list of where to look.

Does anything I enter get sent anywhere?

No. The tool runs in your browser. The answers exist only on your screen and in whatever you print or copy.

Sources

  1. FDA: Human Drug Compounding Accessed September 4, 2026.
  2. FDA: FDA clarifies policies for compounders as national GLP-1 supply begins to stabilize Accessed September 4, 2026.
  3. NABP: state boards of pharmacy directory Accessed September 4, 2026.

Canonical URL: https://formblendscompounding.com/explainers/how-to-use-the-vetting-checklist. Written by the FormBlends editorial team. This page is educational and is not medical advice; see the medical disclaimer.