Compliance · State rules

Office-use compounding in Georgia

Prohibited (human prescribers)

USPeptideRx EditorialLast reviewed: August 28, 2026

Georgia expressly prohibits a pharmacy from distributing non-patient-specific compounded preparations for office use by a human prescriber, while carving out two exceptions in the same rule: 503B outsourcing facilities, and veterinarians. So the prohibition is on the pharmacy route rather than on the transaction — the rule says in terms that it does not affect the ability of outsourcing facilities to supply non-patient-specific preparations for office use, which makes Georgia a state that reroutes rather than one that closes the door.

The governing rule

Georgia’s office-use position is set by Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 480-11-.02(1)(d). The text below is quoted verbatim; everything outside a quote block is our summary of it, and the two are kept visually separate on purpose.

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 480-11-.02(1)(d)

The distribution of non-patient specific compounded preparations for office use by a practitioner, excluding veterinarians, is prohibited. This subsection shall not affect 503b outsourcing facilities ability to provide non-patient specific compounded preparations for office use by a practitioner. The distribution of compounded preparations, for office administration or emergency dispensing, to a veterinarian shall not exceed 5% of production of compounded preparation in a calendar year by that pharmacy. Amounts produced greater than 5% shall be considered manufacturing and will require separate licensure as a manufacturer.

What the rule requires in practice

Each item carries a confidence level. Verbatim rule text is high confidence; a reading of how two provisions interact, or a source that could not be re-verified, is not.

Human office useHigh confidence: Prohibited by rule, in those words.
503B carve-outHigh confidence: Expressly preserved — the rule states it does not affect the ability of 503B outsourcing facilities to provide non-patient-specific preparations for office use.
Veterinary quantity capHigh confidence: 5% of the pharmacy’s compounded production in a calendar year. Veterinary only.Exceeding 5% is deemed manufacturing and requires separate manufacturer licensure.
Anticipatory compoundingHigh confidence: Allowed under 480-11-.02(1)(c), but the stock "shall not be dispensed until" a valid patient-specific order is received.
Veterinary label legendHigh confidence: "For Office Use Administration or Emergency Dispensing by a Veterinarian Only - Not for resale"
Emergency dispensing (veterinary)High confidence: No more than a 10-day supply, for an urgent condition where timely access to a compounding pharmacy is unavailable.
USP standardsHigh confidence: USP <795> for non-sterile, USP <797> for sterile (480-11-.02(8)).
Last changeHigh confidence: None to Chapter 480-11. The last amendment to 480-11-.02 was filed May 4, 2023, effective May 24, 2023.The most recent Board rule filing of any kind was Ch. 480-7C (third-party logistics), filed Oct. 21, 2025, effective Nov. 10, 2025. The Board Policy Manual re-adopted April 22, 2026 contains no compounding or office-use content.

Georgia at a glance

Georgia office-use compounding summary, reviewed 2026-08-28
Human office use	Prohibited (503B carve-out)
Sterile preparations	Not applicable — activity barred
Quantity cap	5%/yr — veterinary only
Mandatory label legend	Yes — veterinary only
Board reporting	None identified
Last change	May 2023
Governing rule	Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 480-11-.02(1)(d)

Receiving 503B office stock in Georgia

Georgia’s office-use prohibition carves out 503B outsourcing facilities by name, so the route is open here in the rule’s own words. What Georgia asks of the facility itself is the gap on this page.

Everything above this heading answers the supply question: may a state-licensed 503A pharmacy ship non-patient-specific stock? This section answers the other half. Registration with FDA under section 503B is a federal exemption from federal law and preempts no state licensing scheme, so it is never the whole answer on its own — a state credential is the norm rather than the exception, it is not always issued by the board of pharmacy, and in some states the category you would search for does not exist. What Georgia asks for is set out below, including where we could not establish it.

What the 503B must hold to ship inNot verified: Not established here. Rule 480-11-.02(1)(d) preserves the 503B route but names no Georgia credential, and no Georgia registration, permit or licence for an out-of-state outsourcing facility was read from a primary source in this review. Confirm with the Board and the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency before you order.This is a hole in our reading, not evidence that Georgia asks for nothing. Every state whose receiving side we did read requires the facility to hold a state credential, so the safe assumption is that one exists here too.
Does your practice need a permit?Not verified: None identified. Chapter 480-11 binds the pharmacy rather than the receiving practice, and no facility permit for a prescriber holding office stock was found in it — but the question was not researched as an affirmative negative.
Administer vs dispenseHigh confidence: Georgia draws the line explicitly, though only inside its veterinary channel: the written agreement required by 480-11-.02(2) provides that the preparation "may only be administered to the patient and may not be dispensed to the patient or sold to any other person or entity" outside emergency dispensing. No equivalent human office-stock provision exists, because the 503A route is barred for human prescribers outright.
Scheduled (controlled) stockNot verified: Not researched for Georgia. Different rules apply to scheduled drugs; confirm with the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency and your counsel before holding any.

How to check a facility’s credential before you order is set out in how to place an office-use order.

The federal layer still applies

Federal law is a second, independent constraint — a state prohibition is not the only thing standing in the way. 21 U.S.C. § 353a conditions the federal compounding exemptions on a drug being compounded for an identified individual patient on receipt of a valid prescription order. A state rule cannot create a federal safe harbour, and several state rules say so in their own text. The separate federal pathway for non-patient-specific office stock is the 503B outsourcing facility — the differences are set out in 503A vs 503B.

For how Georgia compares with the other states reviewed, see the state-by-state comparison.

What this page does not establish

This page tracks the Board’s rule dockets and administrative history. It does not track the legislature, so a statute could have changed without a corresponding rule change and nothing here would show it.

Sources

Primary sources, fetched directly from the issuing body. No secondary summaries.