How to verify a pharmacy is legit

Confirm any pharmacy yourself with primary-source, public lookups.

Check a pharmacy in about two minutes

A legitimate compounding pharmacy is state-licensed, dispenses only on a prescription, and can prove its credentials. Here is how to confirm one yourself before you spend anything.

  1. Make sure a prescriber is involved. A licensed clinician should evaluate you first. No prescription and no medical oversight is a disqualifier.
  2. Find its state pharmacy license. Every pharmacy is licensed by a state board you can search. Confirm the license is active and in good standing.
  3. Look it up on NABP's Safe Pharmacy tool. NABP flags online pharmacies as accredited or "Not Recommended."
  4. Check LegitScript certification. Google, Meta, Visa and Mastercard require it before a pharmacy can advertise or take card payments.
  5. Search FDA warning letters for the name. A recent enforcement action is a hard stop.
  6. Prefer a .pharmacy web address. That domain is vetted by NABP and cannot be faked.
  7. Demand a batch-matched Certificate of Analysis from an independent lab, showing HPLC purity and sterility, with a lot number that matches the vial.

Verify with these primary sources

"Research Use Only" does not mean what you think

An "RUO" or "not for human consumption" label is a liability shield for the seller, not a safety certificate and not a legal path to put something in your body. In 2026 the FDA explicitly rejected that label as a defense, ruling that website evidence showed the products were intended as drugs. If a site sells vials this way, that is the warning sign, not a loophole.

Red flags