Findings · census run September 2026 · Standard v1.1
Findings
Research on the evidence behind peptide seller claims: pharmacy identification, laboratory reports, prices, and regulatory disclosures.
Sourcing guides explain the documents. Census findings compare disclosures across the seller ledger, with counts and source records available to inspect.
- Sourcing guide · criterion S6
Medical records and prescription transfers are different requests
Receiving a copy of a medical record does not transfer a prescription or authorize another refill. Identify the clinical record holder for the records request, and ask the pharmacies or prescriber separately about any prescription action.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S3
Compounded GLP-1 labels: concentration, volume and units
Syringe units, liquid volume and the amount of medication describe different things. A familiar syringe marking cannot establish a dose when the concentration or prescription has changed. Ask the dispensing pharmacist to reconcile the prescription, label and supplied syringe.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S4
Oral and nasal peptides: does the evidence match the product?
Evidence for a molecule does not automatically establish evidence for every product containing it. Match the exact formulation, route, strength and intended use before applying a study or an approval claim to an oral, sublingual or nasal offer.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S8
Drug recalls: match the product, pharmacy and lot
A recall match requires the product and identifying details in the notice, often including a lot number. A shared seller or pharmacy name alone cannot establish that a particular shipment is affected or that it is unaffected.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S6
Telehealth privacy: the clinic, app and data-sharing boundary
HIPAA protection depends on who holds the information and their role, not simply whether the information concerns health. A clinic’s records and information copied into a separately chosen consumer app can fall under different protections.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S7
Canceling telehealth: what happens to the next charge, order and refund?
Stopping future renewals, canceling an order and receiving a refund are three different outcomes. Read each condition separately before treating a monthly subscription as a flexible monthly commitment.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S5
Does a peptide certificate of analysis prove sterility?
A purity result does not establish sterility. A certificate supports only the tests performed on the identified sample, using the stated methods.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S3
How can a named compounding pharmacy be verified?
Start with the dispensing pharmacy's exact name and address, then compare them with the relevant state pharmacy board record. A seller's logo or partner list is insufficient.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S3
What does 503A or 503B actually establish about a seller?
503A and 503B describe different federal compounding frameworks. Neither label identifies the filling facility by itself, and neither makes a compounded drug FDA-approved.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S4
Does an NDC number mean a peptide product is FDA-approved?
No. FDA explicitly states that assignment of an NDC number and inclusion in its directory do not establish product approval.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S5
What should a seller disclose about cold shipping?
A shipping promise should identify storage instructions, the responsible pharmacy, and the route for resolving a temperature concern. Delivery speed alone cannot establish product quality.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S8
Which details matter when reporting a peptide product problem?
A useful report identifies the product, its manufacturer or pharmacy, its lot when available, and the event timeline. A report records a suspected problem; it does not establish causation.
Read the finding → - Sourcing guide · criterion S1
Does nationwide telehealth mean every prescription is available?
Nationwide marketing does not establish that a particular clinician, pharmacy, and prescription can serve every state. Availability needs a product-specific check.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S8
Who sells retatrutide, a drug still in phase 3 trials?
17 sellers list retatrutide; 10 phase 3 trials, no approval.
Research vendors sell it, labeled for laboratory use, several of them under a code rather than its name, while the maker has not filed it for approval and FDA states that it cannot be used in compounding.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S5
Which laboratories sign the research vendors' test reports?
28 vendors name a lab; 17 labs in all.
A handful of laboratories sign most of the reports, few of them state an accreditation on their own sites, and some vendors credit a laboratory on the homepage that signs none of their documents.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S8
Who stopped trading after Peptide Sciences closed?
3 closed, 5 behind a login or password.
Few closed outright. More moved their catalogs behind an account or a password, and most still sell to a visitor, many behind an attestation screen.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S3
How many peptide sellers name the pharmacy that fills the order?
244 of 586 sellers pass S3.
A minority. Most sellers substitute a legal category, such as a licensed 503A pharmacy, for a facility a reader could look up in a state board register.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S6
How many storefronts, and how many companies?
586 records, 606 storefronts.
More storefronts than brands. Several brands sell from more than one domain of their own, each filed on one record, while a brand run by the same owner as another keeps a record of its own.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S7
How many peptide sellers print a price before the intake form?
525 of 586 sellers pass S7.
A large majority. A price printed on a public page is the norm in this ledger, and the records that withhold one are named on the piece, with the withholding sentence quoted.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S6
Where is the seller? Business address disclosure across the ledger
418 of 586 sellers pass S6.
Most records print an address, and the addresses are not alike. Some are an office, some a registered agent's building, some a private mailbox, and a substantial minority print no address in the footer, on the contact page, in the terms or in the privacy policy.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S8
Warning letters across the field, and what happened next
57 of 586 records disclose a letter; 57 of those 57 still trade.
A warning letter alleges and does not halt. The lettered entities in this ledger are counted with their denominator, together with how many still trade and how many letters carry a close-out letter on the FDA index.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S5
The state of the Standard, edition 1
4688 cells: 3189 pass, 1371 fail, 128 not verified.
Eight criteria applied to every record, each reported as its own pass, fail and not-verified count, split between telehealth services and research vendors. No criterion is summed with another, and no record is scored.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S3
Which pharmacies fill the orders, and how many sellers name the same one?
244 of 586 records name a pharmacy; 57 of 116 facilities are named by more than one.
Fewer facilities than storefronts. Several sellers that look like separate businesses name the same filling pharmacy, and one facility appears in the ledger under several different spellings, each written by a different seller.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S2
Where does the order path stop?
436 of 586 records stop the order for an eligibility step.
Most stop, and the split runs by kind. Every record that puts an eligibility step in front of the order is a telehealth service, and nearly every record that lets a product reach checkout unasked is a research vendor; the telehealth exceptions are named on the piece.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S5
The criterion the licensed services fail and the research vendors pass
31 of 42 checked research vendors publish a lab document; 7 of 535 checked telehealth services do.
Almost the whole split runs one way. The sellers operating outside the prescription system publish more laboratory evidence than the licensed services do, with exceptions on both sides named on the page. The split is structural rather than a difference in care, and a certificate is a document about one lot, not an approval.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S3
The question the regulator asked, and whether the record answers it
29 letters ask a company to name its compounder; 14 of the 29 records they name now name a pharmacy.
Some answer it and some do not. The letters and the criterion ask the same question, and this piece reports only the dated state of both, because the ledger holds no earlier reading of those pages to compare against.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S1
Does anyone check a prescription before the peptide ships?
535 of 586 sellers pass S1.
It depends entirely on which half of the field you are buying from. Telehealth services state that a clinician reviews the order; research vendors do not claim one, and on the census date no checked vendor had one.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S4
How many sellers say the compounded drug is not FDA-approved?
365 of 523 sellers it applies to pass S4.
Fewer than the headline rate suggests. S4 has the highest pass rate of any criterion because a large block of sellers passes it by selling no compounded drugs at all; among the sellers the disclosure actually applies to, a real minority omits it.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S4
Which peptides do the telehealth services actually sell?
266 of 536 telehealth services list sermorelin, which has no approved product.
GLP-1 drugs lead, and sermorelin and NAD+ follow close behind. Several services list molecules whose compounding nomination was withdrawn, and a handful of sites call a product FDA-approved when no approved version of it is what they sell.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S5
Who calls a peptide pharmaceutical grade, and what does the term require?
18 of 201 sellers read say pharmaceutical grade.
Many telehealth services say pharmaceutical grade, and so do research vendors that label the same product not for human use. FDA does not define the term; the binding standards are the compendium and current good manufacturing practice.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S8
Which peptide cases went past a warning letter?
5 cases since 2020 ended in a plea or sentence.
A handful, all criminal cases against sellers outside the ledger, most of them built on a research-use label the sellers knew was false. No injunction or seizure against a peptide seller appears on FDA's own pages.
Read the finding → - Finding · criterion S3
Where does the material come from, and what does FDA's GLP-1 import alert say?
55 of 201 say made or compounded in the USA; none names its ingredient's maker.
Almost no seller names where its active ingredient is made. Many say compounded or made in the USA, which describes where a vial was finished, and FDA's import alert shows the GLP-1 ingredient supply is largely foreign.
Read the finding →
Method and null semantics: how checks are performed. Dispositions recorded against Standard v1.1.