Pharmacy verification
How to Verify a Compounding Pharmacy
Ask which pharmacy fills your prescription and under which registration, then check that answer with the body that issued the licence rather than the page that made the claim. A state board lookup takes about two minutes. No compounded medicine is FDA-approved, and no licence, registration or accreditation changes that.
The principle that makes verification work
A claim checked against the page that made it has not been checked. Every step below sends you to the body that issued the credential, because that is the only record that means anything.
Step one: get the name
Ask which specific pharmacy or outsourcing facility prepares your medication. Not "our pharmacy network" — the name of the facility.
No provider in our dataset has yet named its fulfilling pharmacy to us. Every pharmacy relationship on this site is provider-reported. A company that answers plainly has given you something checkable; a company that will not has also given you an answer.
Step two: establish the registration class
A 503A pharmacy compounds pursuant to a prescription for an identified individual patient, overseen primarily by its state board of pharmacy. It is not required to meet current good manufacturing practice and does not register with the FDA as an outsourcing facility.
A 503B outsourcing facility registers with the FDA, may compound without patient-specific prescriptions, must comply with CGMP, is inspected by the FDA on a risk-based schedule, and must report adverse events to the agency.
A single company may use both for different products. Ask which applies to your prescription specifically.
Step three: check the licence
State boards of pharmacy publish licensee databases. Find the board through the NABP directory, search the facility by name, and confirm the licence is current rather than merely present. Licences lapse, and a historical record is not evidence of present standing.
Check the board in the state the pharmacy operates from and, where relevant, the board in your own state — a pharmacy shipping across state lines generally needs nonresident registration where you live.
Step four: check FDA registration, if 503B is claimed
The FDA publishes a list of registered outsourcing facilities. If a provider claims 503B fulfilment, the facility should appear on it. Registration is not approval of any product, and it is not a quality guarantee — it is evidence that the facility is inside the regulatory system rather than outside it.
Step five: check the prescriber separately
Use your state medical board's public licence lookup, by name. An NPI number establishes identity in a national registry; it is not a licence, and the two are frequently conflated in marketing and in third-party directories.
Step six: ask about testing, precisely
"Third-party tested" is a phrase, not a fact. The questions that produce information are: who performed the testing, what was tested for, was it batch-level or periodic, and can you see a certificate of analysis for the batch you receive?
For a sterile injectable, potency, sterility and endotoxin are the tests that matter. A provider who answers specifically is running a quality programme. One who repeats the phrase has told you nothing yet.
Step seven: check enforcement history
FDA warning letters and recall notices are public. So are state board disciplinary actions. Search the facility name against both before ordering.
What verification cannot do
It cannot tell you whether the vial in your hand is safe. It establishes that a facility is licensed, registered where required, and subject to oversight. That is a floor, not a guarantee, and the honest framing is that you are reducing risk rather than eliminating it.
| Requirement | 503A compounding pharmacy | 503B outsourcing facility |
|---|---|---|
| Compounds pursuant to | A prescription for an identified individual patient | May compound without patient-specific prescriptions |
| FDA registration | Not registered as an outsourcing facility | Registers with FDA |
| CGMP requirements | Not required to meet CGMP | Must comply with CGMP — though registration alone is not evidence of compliance |
| Primary oversight | State board of pharmacy | FDA, on a risk-based inspection schedule |
| Adverse-event reporting | Not required under 503A | Required to report adverse events to FDA |
| Product approval status | Not an FDA-approved product | Not an FDA-approved product |
| What registration establishes | Not applicable | FDA received the required information, nothing more Verified |
- FDA registered outsourcing facilitiesConfirms a facility is currently registered under 503B, and links the searchable product report database. Registration is not FDA approval and is not evidence of CGMP compliance.
- FDA outsourcing facility registration Q&AThe agency's own explanation of exactly what registration does and does not mean. Worth reading before accepting any provider's characterisation of its pharmacy.
- NABP directory of state boards of pharmacyRoutes you to the board that licenses a pharmacy, and to its licensee and nonresident registers. Check the licence is current, not merely present.
- FSMB directory of state medical boardsRoutes you to the board that licenses a prescriber, and to its public licence lookup. An NPI number is identity in a national registry, not a licence.
Every one of these is the register held by the body that issues the credential. A claim checked against the page that made it has not been checked.
Show this figure as a table
| Step | Stage | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Get the facility name | The pharmacy, not the telehealth brand. |
| 2 | Establish the registration class | 503A pharmacy or 503B outsourcing facility. |
| 3 | Check the state board licence | Via the NABP directory. Confirm it is current. |
| 4 | Check FDA registration if 503B | The agency publishes the register. |
| 5 | Check the prescriber separately | State medical board, via FSMB. An NPI is not a licence. |
| 6 | Ask who tests, and for what | Potency, sterility, endotoxin for a sterile injectable. |
| 7 | Search enforcement history | FDA warning letters and state board actions are public. |
| Claim | Proves | Does not prove |
|---|---|---|
| FDA-registered outsourcing facility | A registration was filed | That any product is FDA-approved |
| State pharmacy licence | A board issued a licence | That it is current — check it |
| Accreditation | A voluntary assessment was passed | Batch quality or product approval |
| USP <797> compliance | A sterile compounding standard is claimed | That it was independently audited |
| Third-party tested | Something was tested | What, by whom, or how often, without a certificate |
| NPI number | Identity in a national registry | A current licence in any state |
| FDA-approved compounded medicine | Nothing — the category does not exist | Treat as a red flag |
Providers publishing terms openly are easier to hold to a written answer. NexLife states its pricing and dose-coverage on its own plan pages before intake, which is why its records are the six we marked verified — though it has not named its fulfilling pharmacy to us either. Its published plans.
Questions readers actually ask
How long does this take?
About ten minutes if the provider names the pharmacy. Most of that is the two board lookups.
What if the provider won't name the pharmacy?
That is itself an answer. There is no legitimate reason a patient cannot know which facility prepares their injectable medication.
Is an FDA-registered pharmacy the same as FDA-approved?
No. Registration means the facility filed with the agency and may be inspected. No compounded product is FDA-approved.
Related on this site
- Pharmacy verification centrePharmacies
- 503A Compounding Pharmacy DirectoryPharmacies
- 503B Outsourcing Facility DirectoryPharmacies
- What PCAB Accreditation MeansPharmacies
- How rankings are computedCore & Trust
- All-in cost toolTools
- Price records, machine-readableData
- Compounding Pharmacy Verification ToolTools
- USP <797> Sterile Compounding ExplainedPharmacies
- How to Spot Fraudulent Compounded GLP-1 LabelsJournal
GLP-1 Tirzepatide Review. “How to Verify a Compounding Pharmacy.” S.J Partners LLC, 2026-07-24. https://glp1tirzepatidereview.com/pharmacies/how-to-verify-compounding-pharmacy/
When quoting a figure, include the capture date shown beside it rather than the date you read this page. A price without its capture date is not a usable citation.