Ask about the reason and the preparation
An allergy to a dye may call for compounding, according to an example from the US drug agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Ask for the name, licence and a way to speak with the pharmacy.
Federal law limits the raw ingredients used when making a medicine for a named patient.
There are rules against routinely making copies of medicines already sold. Charging less is not, by itself, a medical change that allows a copy to be made for you.
A real use, with a different review
In September 2026, compounded medicines lack FDA approval.
FDA does not verify their safety, quality or effectiveness before sale.
This lack of approval does not mean every act of compounding is unlawful. It may meet a medical need that an approved product does not address.
Why copies need a closer look
Federal law restricts ordinary pharmacies from making routine or large amounts of products that are essentially copies of a commercially available drug.
The law makes an exception if your prescriber finds that a change makes an important difference in your own case. Ask how the change helps your medical need, as in the dye-allergy example above.
As of September 2026, injections of semaglutide and tirzepatide are absent from FDA's national shortage list.
A local pharmacy running out of stock is a different matter from being on the national shortage list.