[Go to the reading](#read)

[Recovery, in plain words](/)

A handbook for choosing care Plain words: on

[What is it?](/start/)

[Is it real?](/approval/)

[How do I find care?](/care/)

[What will I pay?](/cost/)

[What needs checking?](/safety/)

Read an offer without rushing

# What would make an offer worth pausing over?

Use these checks on the offer in front of you. A question that cannot be answered is a reason to leave the decision open.

## Questions to work through

A prescription medicine without a prescription.

US law requires a prescription before a prescription medicine can be supplied; this was the legal position on September 26, 2026.

Approval claimed for a compounded product.

FDA (Food and Drug Administration) says approval claims for medicines made to order are false or misleading; this was its position on September 26, 2026.

The concern is the claim being made, rather than compounding as a whole.

Pharmacy details that are hard to check.

FDA’s checklist asks for a pharmacy license from the state, a US street address and phone number, and a licensed pharmacist to take your questions.

FDA also cautions that a convincing online storefront can still mislead.

Only a hard-to-reverse payment route.

The Federal Trade Commission warns of a likely scam if the only way to pay is by gift card, payment app, cryptocurrency, wire or bank transfer. This advice was checked September 26, 2026.

## Check more than a low advertised price

FDA flags unusually large discounts or prices that sound hard to believe. A cheap offer does not establish a problem by itself; weigh it with the other warning signs.

Put the price beside the license record, the prescription process and the pharmacy’s name. Ask about all of them before deciding.

## Save the offer you are trying to understand

Keep the product description and payment terms together. Ask for a direct answer to the part that seems inconsistent. You can leave the decision there while you consider it.

Keep this thought

A polished page cannot answer the license, product and payment questions for you. Check each part of the offer.

## Notes for this question

### [FDA: check an online pharmacy](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/besaferx-your-source-online-pharmacy-information/considering-online-pharmacy)

Read the positive signs together with the caution about appearances.

### [FDA: approval claims in advertising](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding/fda-telehealth-companies-what-know-when-promoting-compounded-drugs)

Explains misleading claims about compounded preparations.

### [FTC: payment-only demands](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/07/way-spot-scams-how-someone-asks-you-pay)

The FTC’s full name is Federal Trade Commission; it publishes consumer advice.

### [US statute: prescription requirement](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title21-section353&num=0&edition=prelim)

The source for the dispensing rule in this chapter.

[What does research-only mean?](/research/)  [How do I check the pharmacy?](/pharmacy/)  [What will I pay?](/cost/)

Words, unpacked

Prescription

An order from a licensed prescriber for a medicine.

Cryptocurrency

A form of digital payment.

[What can go wrong?](/safety/) [When can I pause?](/cautions/) [What if I compete?](/sport/)

[Read this page as text](/cautions/index.md)

This is a guide for questioning care offers, never a clinic or a place that supplies medicine.

[Begin here](/)  [What can I ask?](/questions/)  [How can I read the evidence?](/sources/)

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