Compounding is making medicine to order
A pharmacist, a doctor or a medicine-making site registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can prepare a custom medicine rather than supply a ready-made product.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) · what compounding meansFor a registered site, ask who is responsible for making and checking your medicine. Registration alone does not promise approval from FDA.
Medicine products undergo Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review. Compounded medicines remain unapproved by FDA, as of September 2026. Before these medicines are offered to patients, their safety, quality and how well they work receive no FDA review.
FDA · the review compounded medicines do not getA generic medicine has approval and copies a brand product. Medicine made to order has not had that approval.
FDA · a different path from an approved versionAsk what medical need the pharmacy-made version is intended to meet.
A shortage can change the rules
A local pharmacy’s lack of stock alone does not place a medicine on FDA’s national shortage list.
FDA · national shortage listingsOn the FDA shortage list as of September 2026, liraglutide injection is still listed; semaglutide and tirzepatide injections are not.
FDA · dated status of the injectionsUnder federal rules checked in September 2026, a pharmacist or doctor cannot routinely make copies of a medicine already sold on the market. A changed version for a named patient falls outside that copy rule if the prescriber decides the change makes a meaningful medical difference for that person. A lower price does not meet that test.
U.S. law · limits on pharmacy-made copiesFor example, making a medicine without a dye may meet the needs of a person allergic to that dye.
FDA · an example of a medical needAsk what is being changed for you and why. This rule for a named patient is about medicine made by a pharmacy or doctor; ask which rules apply to the place making your medicine.
Adding a vitamin does not settle the question
In its policy checked in September 2026, FDA says adding a vitamin can still leave a medicine made to order close enough to count as a copy of an available product.
FDA · added vitamins and copiesAsk what change is being made and why it matters for you. A different name for a blend is not the same as a clear explanation.
Get the exact ingredient in writing
FDA identifies semaglutide sodium and semaglutide acetate as different from the ingredient in approved semaglutide, as of September 2026. These are salt forms: chemical versions of the ingredient. FDA says it knows of no legal way to use them in medicine made to order.
FDA · semaglutide salt formsAsk the prescriber and pharmacy to explain any unfamiliar ingredient names.