Our fact-checking policy

Fact-checking is a workflow, not a vibe. This page documents who checks what, against which sources, on which timeline.

Source hierarchy

We rank sources into four tiers and require the highest tier available for any given claim.

Tier 1 — Acceptable for all claims

• FDA prescribing labels (current revision).
• Peer-reviewed clinical trials in NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, Lancet Diabetes, Diabetologia, Circulation, Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ.
• FDA formal regulatory actions: warning letters, safety communications, REMS modifications, official guidance.
• FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) signals — used carefully, with frequency caveats.

Tier 2 — Acceptable for most claims with corroboration

• Manufacturer FDA briefing documents.
• Cochrane Reviews and systematic reviews from established meta-analytic groups.
• Society guidelines from named bodies (ADA, AACE, AHA/ACC, NLA, KDIGO).
• State pharmacy board actions and proceedings (verified on the relevant state's official site).
• Manufacturer press releases for trial topline results — with the full paper or FDA filing cross-referenced as soon as available.

Tier 3 — Acceptable for context only, never for novel claims

• Health-system clinical guidance (Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, UpToDate when accessible).
• Established health journalism (Stat News, Endpoints News, BioPharma Dive, Medscape Medical News).
• Government health agency communication (CDC, NIH).

Tier 4 — Not acceptable for editorial claims

• Provider marketing materials (used only as evidence of what the provider claims, not as evidence the claim is true).
• Reddit, X, Facebook groups, anonymous forums.
• Blog posts, lifestyle media, supplement sites.
• "Wellness" sites without medical editorial review.
• AI engine outputs (acceptable as a drafting aid but never as a source).

Per-page-type workflow

Provider reviews

1. Author drafts review applying rubric. Pricing recorded from a fresh checkout observation within 7 days of publication.
2. Pharmacy disclosure claims verified against the provider's public site and (where relevant) state pharmacy board records.
3. Clinical-oversight claims verified against ABMS certification database for the named Medical Director and state medical board for prescribing clinicians.
4. Second reviewer audits the score for rubric compliance.
5. Medical advisory board reviewer (Dr. Bottoni or designated specialist) reviews clinical content for accuracy.
6. Published with date stamp and named author/reviewer.

Clinical research pages

1. Author drafts page with citations to Tier 1 sources.
2. Specialist reviewer (Allen for endocrine; Lora for compounding/pharmacology; Bentley for cardiometabolic) audits clinical claims.
3. Verify that every numeric claim (effect size, p-value, n) is correctly stated and sourced.
4. Verify that indications, contraindications, and dosing match current FDA labels.
5. Published with named author and named reviewer.

News desk

1. Author drafts news entry from primary source (FDA announcement, manufacturer press release, regulatory filing).
2. Verify date and content against primary source.
3. Add forward links to relevant deeper-content pages.
4. Published same-day for material events; entry dated to the underlying event, not the publication date.

Pricing index

1. Run checkout flow on every provider weekly. Record price at every dose tier offered.
2. Cross-check against the provider's own price page.
3. Note discrepancies (advertised vs checkout).
4. Published with refresh date prominent.

Specific claims policy

"FDA-approved" claims

"FDA-approved" appears in our editorial content only for branded products with current FDA approval for the cited indication. Compounded medications are never described as FDA-approved; we describe them as "compounded under 503A/503B framework" with the regulatory context preserved.

Pricing claims

Every pricing claim is dated and sourced to a specific observation date. We do not publish "starting at" pricing without also publishing the maintenance-dose price.

Score claims

Every score claim is sourced to the latest rubric application date. Quarterly re-scoring is normal.

Provider claims

When a provider makes a claim (e.g., "all 50 states," "Medical Director is X"), we verify against state medical-license databases and ABMS certification rather than accepting the provider's site at face value.

Mistakes and corrections

We make mistakes. When we do, we correct them publicly at /corrections.html with date, URL, prior statement, corrected statement, and supporting source. Material errors that change a provider's score or ranking trigger an immediate re-score and a corrections entry.