Federal law makes it illegal to sell prescription-only medicine to someone who has no prescription.
Claim source: federal prescription-drug law, summarized in CA-red-flags-01.
Red flags
A quick yes can hide who is responsible
Good care can say no, explain why and name the people responsible. These red flags tell you when to stop the comparison.
Clearest stop
Prescription medicine with no prescription
Filling in a questionnaire is not the same as getting a prescription. A licensed doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner has to review your health and decide, and you need a way to ask them questions.
Small print, large problem
A research label beside human-use claims
In 2026 warning letters, the FDA said that “research use only” wording did not change products into lawful treatments when the same websites marketed them for human use.
Claim source: FDA warning letter, summarized in CA-red-flags-02.
Some of these sites also sell water for mixing the powder, dose calculators or how-to-use guides. Those extras show the product is meant for people, whatever the label says.
Impossible claim
Two labels that cannot go together
A finished compounded medicine is never FDA-approved, so an offer calling it both compounded and FDA-approved is false.
Claim source: FDA compounding questions and answers, summarized in CA-red-flags-09.
“Made with an ingredient also used in an approved drug” is not the same as approval of the finished product.
Care reduced to a cart
No one can ask a follow-up question
As of September 2026, Colorado’s Medical Board says treatment or prescribing based only on an online questionnaire does not meet an acceptable care standard.
Claim source: Colorado Medical Board Policy 40-27, summarized in GEO-CO-13.
A form can be part of a visit. The red flag is when the form is the whole visit and no one ever talks with you.
Payment pressure
Only irreversible payment methods
The Federal Trade Commission says that a seller who will take money only through a wire, a bank transfer, cryptocurrency, a payment app or a gift card is most likely running a scam.
Claim source: FTC consumer alert, summarized in CA-red-flags-08.
The concern is a seller who will take only these methods, not every use of a payment app.
One red flag is enough to pause. Several together are a clear reason to leave the page and keep records of what was offered.