There can be a patient need
Compounding can help when a patient needs a medicine without a particular dye or cannot swallow the available tablet.
On September 26, 2026, compounded preparations remain without FDA approval.
Before marketing, these medicines undergo no FDA checks of safety, quality or how well they work.
Poor preparation can leave germs in the medicine or the wrong amount of the substance that makes it work.
The state law still depends on federal rules
As of September 26, 2026, Colorado law allows certain licensed pharmacies and facilities to supply compounded medicines.
They must follow both state and federal law.
Federal rules may forbid an ingredient or limit making copies of a ready-made drug. Colorado law does not lift those limits.
Ask how this exact preparation meets the rules. A claim that Colorado allows peptides does not answer that question.
Source information checked: September 26, 2026.
What the Colorado act says
Read the condition about following both levels of law before relying on a headline.
There are limits on making copies
Federal law, as of September 26, 2026, sets limits on regularly preparing made-to-order medicines that closely copy an available ready-made drug.
The prescriber may judge that a change to the ready-made medicine makes a meaningful difference for a particular patient. The change must matter compared with the ready-made drug.
Lower cost alone does not count as that difference.
Neither semaglutide nor tirzepatide injections appeared on the FDA shortage list when checked September 26, 2026.
A pharmacy with no stock in your area is a different situation from an FDA-recorded nationwide shortage.
Using retatrutide or cagrilintide to compound medicine is forbidden by federal law, says the FDA in its September 26, 2026 position.
What change in the medicine do I need, and how would it help me? Which rules allow it to be made for me?
Source information checked: September 26, 2026.
Use the FDA’s explanation
Read the agency’s account of approved drugs, compounding and the end of national shortages.
Ask which rules apply after the October hearing
As of September 26, 2026, Colorado had announced an October 1, 2026 hearing on compounding-rule changes.
This guide cannot confirm what the board decided at that hearing or when any new rule took effect.
Ask the Board of Pharmacy for the rules in force when your care is being arranged.
Source information checked: September 26, 2026.