Introduction · the routes
Before comparing prices, sort each offer into one of three kinds of care, which this guide calls routes. The same broad marketing phrase can hide very different rules.
A medicine approved by the FDA for a named use.
As of September 2026, approved peptide medicines include semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound).
Source noteThe label, the person who prescribes it and the pharmacy can all be named and checked.
A prescription mixed to order by a compounding pharmacy.
As of September 2026, a regular compounding pharmacy made medicine only against a prescription naming one patient. It is called a 503A pharmacy, after the part of the law it comes from.
Source noteThe 503B outsourcing facility was, in September 2026, a bigger maker that often supplies clinics and hospitals; it could make batches of sterile (germ-free) medicine. It did not need a prescription naming one patient.
Source noteAs of September 2026, registered 503B facilities were held to the quality rules that bind drug factories, with FDA inspections.
Source noteAs of September 2026, 503A pharmacies were exempt from that factory rulebook, though other quality rules still applied.
Source noteA chemical store dressed up as care.
As of September 2026, the FDA had repeatedly told online sellers that a research use only
label does not change a product marketed for people into a lawful treatment.
A checkout page, mixing guide and vague promises do not replace a doctor or nurse, a prescription and a licensed pharmacy.
After the route is clear.
As of September 2026, a compounding pharmacy generally could not keep making what was basically a copy of an approved medicine already on sale. It could only when the prescriber, the person who wrote the prescription, decided the change mattered for that patient.
Source noteA low advertised price does not tell you whether the offer is allowed for that medicine.