What compounding is
A licensed pharmacy combines or prepares ingredients to fill a prescription written for a specific patient. It exists to serve needs an approved commercial product cannot, such as a different strength, a different route or an ingredient combination.
What compounded is not
Not a generic. A generic is an FDA-approved product proven equivalent to a brand before marketing. A compounded preparation has no such approval and no such equivalence finding. It is also not the brand-name product, and it is not the same as it.
What FDA does and does not do here
FDA does not approve compounded preparations and does not evaluate them for safety, effectiveness or quality before they are marketed. FDA also does not approve or license pharmacies, which is why any claim of an FDA-approved pharmacy is inaccurate on its face.
Where oversight actually comes from
State boards of pharmacy license and inspect pharmacies, and federal law sets the conditions under which compounding is permitted. That is real oversight, and it is different from FDA product approval. Both things can be true at once.
What this means for you as a patient
Ask three questions: is there a real prescription written for me, is the pharmacy licensed, and is a licensed clinician accountable for the decision. Those are the questions that separate legitimate care from a website selling vials.
Common questions
Is compounded medication legal?
Compounding by licensed pharmacies under a valid prescription is lawful and long-established. That is separate from FDA approval, which compounded preparations do not have.
Is compounded the same as the brand?
No. It is not the brand, not a generic, and not established as equivalent. Anyone claiming otherwise is making a claim FDA has specifically warned against.
Compounded is a pharmacy process, not a brand name. If you want a clinician to decide whether that process is even appropriate, the visit is compounded tirzepatide online.