Questions to work through
Ask for the pharmacy’s full name.
Food and Drug Administration is the agency’s name, shortened to FDA.
People ordering a compounded medicine online may be unable to identify its maker, FDA warns.
Use the state’s pharmacy record.
FDA’s state-search page links to state records where you can check a pharmacy’s license.
Finding a license shows the pharmacy has permission to operate. It does not prove that every medicine it supplies is right for the person receiving it.
Ask about permission to ship to you.
Most states require a pharmacy based elsewhere to obtain a local permit or license before shipping to you, as recorded September 26, 2026.
Ask the receiving state’s board for the requirement that applies to you.
Keep the different checks apart
Accreditation is an outside review against a set of standards. Ask what any badge covers and where the status can be checked.
The outside review called PCAB accreditation checks how a pharmacy makes medicines against quality standards. It does not test each batch, meaning a group of medicine made together at one time. The badge alone does not show that the medicine sent to you was tested.
PCAB is a review program for pharmacies making medicines to order. Its review does not replace a pharmacy license.
Match the answer to what arrives
Keep the pharmacy name you were given. Compare it with the label and ask about a mismatch before going further.
Notes for this question
FDA: state pharmacy searches
Follow the link for the state relevant to your medicine.
FDA: online pharmacy questions
Includes the advice to check pharmacy licensing in the relevant states.
PCAB: what its review covers
Describes the review of how a pharmacy makes medicines; it does not test each group of medicine made together.