FDA is short for Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency responsible for reviewing medicines.
- Person: who will assess you, and under what authority?
- Pharmacy: who makes or supplies the product?
- Medicine: what is it, and what rules apply to it?
Assumption to check
Does a prescription settle the product question?
What the facts say
Compounding is preparing medicine to fill an order.
As of September 26, 2026, a prescription does not let a pharmacy use any ingredient it chooses. The ingredient must meet federal rules. Rules also limit copies of medicines already sold ready-made.
Ask the pharmacy which rule permits the ingredient. Ask the prescriber why the proposed medicine needs to be made for you.
Arizona checks the people and the permits
As of October 3, 2026, pharmacists need licences and pharmacies need permits from Arizona’s Pharmacy Board.
As of October 3, 2026, a pharmacy outside Arizona must also hold an Arizona permit to send medicine into the state.
A pharmacist’s personal licence and the pharmacy’s permit are different records. Ask about both where they matter to your care.
Federal rules still apply to custom medicines
As of September 26, 2026, custom-made drugs are unapproved products whose safety, effectiveness and quality FDA does not review before marketing.
As of September 26, 2026, neither semaglutide nor tirzepatide injections appear on FDA’s list of medicines in nationwide shortage.
As of September 26, 2026, federal law restricts repeated copying of ready-made medicines and copying them in large amounts.
For medicine made for one named patient, an exception can apply if the prescriber finds that a change makes a meaningful difference for that patient.
For example, an allergy may mean a patient needs medicine with a dye left out; being unable to swallow tablets may call for another form.
Paying less, by itself, does not qualify as that meaningful difference.
Ask what change is needed for you, which rule allows it and how the prescriber records the reason.
Turn broad claims into plain questions
Request a clear explanation that you can describe in words of your own. Keep these questions on the table.
- Which authority covers the clinician’s work in Arizona?
- Which pharmacy permit covers this shipment?
- Why this exact medicine for my care?
Open the source notes
The federal product facts are dated September 26, 2026; the Arizona permit facts are dated October 3, 2026.