Prescription-diet authorization, how does VetSource, Pawpscript, and Vetsource Rx integrate with Magento?

Hill’s Prescription Diet, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet, and Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diet all require a veterinary authorization before sale. Selling them without auth is a legal problem (state pharmacy board) and a brand problem (Hill’s will pull your distribution agreement).

Three vendor options, all integrate via webhook to Magento:

• VetSource, the dominant vet-pharmacy network. They handle the vet outreach, script verification, and inventory drop-ship. You list the Rx product on Magento with a custom attribute rx_authorization_required = true. Customer adds to cart → checkout pauses → upload vet contact + pet info → VetSource emails the vet → vet approves on a portal → webhook fires back to Magento → order releases. Typical auth latency: 4-48 hours. Pricing: tiered, ~$0, $500/mo + per-script fees.
• Pawpscript, lighter touch, Shopify-first but has a Magento connector via Webhook + REST. Faster auth (often under 4 hours) but smaller vet network. Best for boutique pet brands at $500k, $5M.
• Vetsource Rx (Vetsource’s self-service tier), for brands that want vet auth without the full drop-ship model. You hold the inventory, Vetsource handles the auth workflow only.

Architecturally: Magento product has a boolean attribute for Rx-required, a custom Magento order state (pending_rx_auth) that holds the order, and a webhook listener that releases the order when the vendor confirms approval. Stripe / Adyen tokenize the card on checkout but only charge when auth completes. Decline rate runs 5-15% (vet won’t approve, customer typo’d the vet email, etc.) so the win-back email flow on declined auth is essential.