What does a state board of pharmacy do when it comes to compounded drugs?

Who oversees whom

FDA's compounding questions and answers page says state boards of pharmacy generally have primary responsibility for the day-to-day oversight of state-licensed pharmacies that are not registered as outsourcing facilities. Outsourcing facilities register with FDA and are a separate category, covered in our 503A versus 503B explainer.

FDA also states that compounded drugs are not FDA-approved, so FDA does not review their safety, effectiveness or quality before they are marketed.

Finding a board

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy keeps a boards-of-pharmacy page where you select a state for the board's contact details and website.

What we could not confirm

• We did not find an FDA or NABP page stating that consumers can file complaints with a state board, so we do not state it. Check the board's own website.
• FDA's pages point to MedWatch for reporting adverse events.
• We did not verify how individual states adopt compounding quality standards such as the USP chapters on nonsterile and sterile compounding.

A board is not the whole picture

A pharmacy's state license says the state licenses it. It does not say a particular compounded product is FDA-approved, or that a bulk ingredient is eligible for compounding. Those are separate questions covered on other pages.