Three Steps Left
The panel voted. That was one step of four. Here is the rest, what can stall at each one, and why nobody can honestly give you a date.
Where this sits
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✓Panel voteDone
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2FDA decidesWaiting
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3Rule writtenNot started
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4Pharmacy may compoundNot started
One done. Three to go. Any of the three can stall indefinitely.
What each remaining step is
- The FDA has to agree.
The committee advises; the agency decides. It usually goes along with its panels. Not always — and here the agency's own scientists had argued the other way, which makes this step less of a formality than usual.
- Someone has to write the rule.
The agreement has to become words on paper. A list changes, a notice goes out, the public comments for months, and the agency has to answer what comes in. Slow by design.
- The rule has to actually say it.
A final rule does not have to match the vote. It can come back covering fewer compounds, with limits on dose, sourcing or who may prescribe. Narrow votes are the easiest things to drop.
True as of August 2026
- A committee recommended six compounds, narrowly
- The tallies are on the public record
- The FDA deciding anything
- A rule being drafted
- A pharmacy being allowed to compound these
- Any change to what is sold online
Rules like this often take a year or more from vote to finish. Some take longer. Some never land. Anyone giving you a date is guessing.