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[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/)

Find who actually prepares it

# Which pharmacy would send the medicine?

Ask this even when the visit happens through a website with a different name. Write down who would prepare and send the medicine.

## 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.

Keep this thought

Check the pharmacy itself, then keep its name with the care plan. A service name alone leaves that task unfinished.

## Notes for this question

### [FDA: state pharmacy searches](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/besaferx-your-source-online-pharmacy-information/locate-state-licensed-online-pharmacy)

Follow the link for the state relevant to your medicine.

### [FDA: online pharmacy questions](https://www.fda.gov/drugs/besaferx-your-source-online-pharmacy-information/besaferx-frequently-asked-questions-faqs)

Includes the advice to check pharmacy licensing in the relevant states.

### [PCAB: what its review covers](https://achc.org/pcab/)

Describes the review of how a pharmacy makes medicines; it does not test each group of medicine made together.

[How do I check the clinician?](/licence/)  [What is compounding?](/compounding/)  [When can I pause?](/cautions/)

Words, unpacked

Compounder

The pharmacy or facility preparing the medicine.

Accreditation

An outside check against stated standards.

[Where can I seek care?](/care/) [How do I check the clinician?](/licence/) [How do I check the pharmacy?](/pharmacy/) [What happens at a visit?](/visit/) [What can I ask?](/questions/)

[Read this page as text](/pharmacy/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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