Guides

Plain-language guides to GLP-1 telehealth: how prescribing works, brand vs compounded, legal status, red flags, questions to ask, and how to verify a pharmacy.

• 503A vs 503B pharmacies: what the difference means for your vial

  The two legal categories of compounder under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, who oversees each, what each may do, and how to tell which one made your medication.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide · clinical review required

• Are compounded GLP-1 medications FDA-approved? No — here is what that means

  Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide are not FDA-approved. What approval covers, what compounding is permitted to do, what FDA does and does not check, and how to read a provider's disclosure.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide · clinical review required

• Beyond-use dates for compounded GLP-1 vials

  What a beyond-use date is, how compounding pharmacies assign it, why it matters for multi-month supplies and dose tiers, and what to check on the label.

  Tirzepatide · clinical review required

• Brand-name vs compounded GLP-1: what the difference is and what it costs

  Zepbound, Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic are FDA-approved products with trial evidence; compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide are pharmacy-made preparations that are not. The differences in regulation, evidence, formulation and price, with verified figures where we have them.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide · clinical review required

• Compounded GLP-1 prescription rules by provider

  What a valid prescription for a compounded GLP-1 requires, how telehealth providers meet it, and the provider-by-provider differences in prescriber review, state licensure, refills and documentation.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide · clinical review required

• Compounded GLP-1 safety: what is known, what is not

  What can and cannot be said about the safety of compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide: the class effects that carry over, the risks that are specific to compounding, and what FDA has reported.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide · clinical review required

• Compounded semaglutide legal status

  The semaglutide shortage, its resolution in February 2025, the enforcement discretion dates, the salt-form issue, and the bases on which providers still compound it.

  Semaglutide · clinical review required

• Compounded tirzepatide legal status: shortage end, enforcement and personalised compounding

  Why compounded tirzepatide became widely available, what changed when FDA declared the shortage resolved, what enforcement discretion ended and when, and on what basis providers still offer it.

  Tirzepatide · clinical review required

• GLP-1 additives (B12, B6, glycine, niacinamide, L-carnitine): what they are and the evidence

  Why compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide vials sometimes contain vitamins or amino acids, what the additives are claimed to do, what evidence exists, and how they affect price, formulation and regulatory status.

  Tirzepatide · clinical review required

• GLP-1 cash-pay providers compared

  What distinguishes cash-pay GLP-1 telehealth providers from insurance-based programmes, the plan structures they use, and how to compare them on true cost rather than the headline.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide

• GLP-1 prior authorisation: which providers help and what they charge

  What a prior authorisation for Zepbound or Wegovy involves, the documentation plans ask for, typical reasons for denial and appeal, and how telehealth providers differ in handling it.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide

• GLP-1 telehealth red flags: 14 signs to walk away

  Fourteen warning signs in a GLP-1 telehealth offer, each tied to a specific field we record for every provider, so you can check them on the profile before you pay.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide

• GLP-1 telehealth that accepts insurance

  How insurance works with GLP-1 telehealth: which parts of the service can be billed to a plan, which providers publish insurance acceptance, what prior authorisation involves, and why compounded medication is never covered.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide

• How online GLP-1 telehealth works, step by step

  What actually happens between clicking a GLP-1 provider's 'get started' button and a vial arriving: intake, prescriber review, pharmacy fulfilment, refills, and where the charges appear along the way.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide · clinical review required

• How to verify a compounding pharmacy: state board lookups, 503A vs 503B, FDA lists

  Four checks that take ten minutes: the pharmacy's state licence, whether it is licensed to ship to your state, whether it is a 503B outsourcing facility on FDA's list, and whether FDA has inspected or warned it.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide

• HSA and FSA for GLP-1 telehealth and compounded medication

  When GLP-1 prescriptions, telehealth visits, memberships and compounded medication can be paid from a health savings or flexible spending account, and what documentation administrators ask for.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide

• Manufacturer savings cards and direct-to-patient programs for GLP-1s

  How the manufacturers' savings cards and direct-to-patient cash channels for Zepbound, Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic work, who is eligible, and how this site records their prices.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide

• Medicare, Medicaid and GLP-1 coverage for weight management

  Why Medicare Part D does not cover drugs prescribed for weight loss, how the cardiovascular and sleep-apnoea indications changed coverage, what happened to the proposal to cover anti-obesity medications, and how Medicaid coverage varies by state.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide · clinical review required

• Mounjaro vs compounded tirzepatide

  Mounjaro is tirzepatide approved for type 2 diabetes; compounded tirzepatide is a pharmacy preparation sold mostly for weight management. What the indication difference means, and how the products compare.

  Tirzepatide · clinical review required

• Ozempic vs compounded semaglutide

  Ozempic is semaglutide approved for type 2 diabetes; compounded semaglutide is an unapproved pharmacy preparation sold mostly for weight management. The indication difference and what it means for coverage and prescribing.

  Semaglutide · clinical review required

• Personalised compounding: what makes a compounded GLP-1 permissible after the shortage

  The 'significant difference' requirement for compounding a copy of an approved drug for an individual patient, how providers use it, and what FDA has said about variations such as added vitamins or different strengths.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide · clinical review required

• Questions to ask a GLP-1 provider before you pay

  Twelve questions whose answers determine the true cost and the terms of a GLP-1 telehealth plan, with the answer already recorded on each provider profile where the provider publishes it.

  Tirzepatide and semaglutide

• Semaglutide base vs sodium and acetate salts

  What FDA has said about compounded products made with semaglutide sodium or semaglutide acetate, why the salt form matters, and how to find out which form a provider's pharmacy uses.

  Semaglutide · clinical review required

• Semaglutide without insurance

  The cash-pay ways to get semaglutide: manufacturer direct-to-patient Wegovy, telehealth pass-through with a fee, and compounded plans, with verified prices in the database.

  Semaglutide

• Tirzepatide base vs salt forms: why it matters and how to ask

  The approved tirzepatide products use the base form of the molecule. What a salt form is, why FDA has raised the issue for semaglutide, what is known for tirzepatide, and the question to put to a provider.

  Tirzepatide · clinical review required

• Tirzepatide without insurance: every cash route priced

  The cash-pay ways to get tirzepatide: manufacturer direct-to-patient vials, telehealth pass-through of that price, and compounded plans, with verified prices where the database has them.

  Tirzepatide

• Wegovy through telehealth with insurance

  Getting Wegovy prescribed online and filled under insurance: the weight-management and cardiovascular indications, prior authorisation, the savings offer, and provider fees.

  Semaglutide

• Wegovy vs compounded semaglutide

  The approved semaglutide product for weight management against compounded semaglutide: forms, dosing, the salt-form issue, evidence, regulation, and how each is priced through telehealth.

  Semaglutide · clinical review required

• What happens to compounded GLP-1s when an FDA shortage ends

  The mechanism that allowed compounded copies of tirzepatide and semaglutide during the shortages, what changes when FDA declares a shortage resolved, the wind-down periods, and what patients on compounded plans should expect.

  Tirzepatide · clinical review required

• Zepbound through telehealth with insurance

  How to get Zepbound prescribed through a telehealth provider and filled under your insurance: coverage criteria, prior authorisation, the savings card, and what the provider charges for the visit.

  Tirzepatide

• Zepbound vs compounded tirzepatide: cost, formulation and evidence

  How the FDA-approved product compares with compounded tirzepatide on what you receive, what the evidence covers, how dosing works, and how the two are priced through telehealth.

  Tirzepatide · clinical review required