Red flags
When to pause. When to get help.
An offer sounds certain, the approval claim is vague, or you cannot find the pharmacy name. Pause the payment and check the missing detail.
Severe allergy symptoms need urgent help
Severe allergic reactions can be life-threatening.
Severe symptoms may include trouble breathing, losing consciousness, or swelling of the tongue or face.
Call 911 or go straight to the closest emergency room.
Those symptoms are a reason to get urgent help; this page cannot diagnose the cause.
Check these points before paying
The prescription rules, approval rules and FDA warning letters below were checked on September 26, 2026.
No prescription required
Federal law forbids supplying prescription drugs unless there is a valid prescription.
A prescription is the medicine order given by a licensed prescriber. Before treatment, that person needs to check your health and review your relevant health history.
Approval language without a product name
A business’s registration with the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) gives no FDA approval to its drugs.
Compounded medicines are made to order and have no FDA approval.
A polished site with no checkable pharmacy
The FDA’s pharmacy checklist asks for access to a licensed pharmacist, a valid prescription and state licensing.
Appearance alone cannot establish that an online pharmacy is safe.
Check the pharmacy’s Colorado recordA label that says research use only
A label saying research use only is not proof of approval for human treatment. In warning letters, FDA said some sellers used that label while selling unapproved drugs for human treatment.
The letters state FDA’s claims against those sellers. A warning letter is not a court’s final decision.
Send the problem to the right place
Colorado’s licensing agency takes complaints about medical, nursing and pharmacy care.
What you submit is shared with the person or business named in the complaint.
The boards can act on a licence; they cannot settle a fee dispute or award money.
Read the licensing complaint processColorado’s Attorney General accepts consumer complaints about deceptive ads, billing and scams.
That office does not act as your lawyer or investigate your individual case.
Read the consumer complaint processPatients can also report medicine problems through MedWatch, the FDA’s reporting service.
Open the FDA’s MedWatch information