How Whitepill checks a claim
Every figure on this site was read at its primary source on a date we print beside it. Two of the three grades are computed from counts by a rubric published below, and regulatory status is set by hand from FDA's own documents, which the page shows. We make no medical claims, and we publish no dosing, no protocols and no sellers.
Where do the numbers come from?
From primary sources: a regulator's own page (FDA's compounding pages), a trial registry (ClinicalTrials.gov), PubMed, and open data such as Wikimedia pageviews. We fetch the page itself and search its text for the exact name and the heading it sits under, rather than quoting a summary of it, because two summaries were wrong or stale when we first checked. Counts come from queries we link on each page, so you can re-run them. Figures read on 30 October 2026 are marked with that date.
How are the evidence grades set?
By rule. A grade is computed from a count by the thresholds below; when the count changes, the stamp changes. The thresholds are Whitepill's own and deliberately coarse. They are not a scientific standard, and a grade says how deep the public record is, not whether anything works or is safe.
| Axis | Grade | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Human trials | Thin evidence | fewer than 5 papers typed as a clinical or randomized trial on PubMed |
| Moderate record | 5 to 49 trial-typed papers | |
| Deep record | 50 or more trial-typed papers | |
| Quality tests | Untested | no completed third-party tests found |
| Mostly passes | under 10 percent of completed third-party tests failed | |
| Mixed | 10 to 24 percent failed | |
| Fails often | 25 percent or more failed | |
| Regulatory status | Approved | FDA lists it as approved for some use |
| Contested | FDA's own documents and its advisory body disagree, or its status changed within the last 12 months | |
| Unapproved | FDA lists it as unapproved or restricted and no dispute is on record | |
| Not found | no FDA listing found |
"Typed as a trial" means the paper's PubMed publication type is Clinical Trial or Randomized Controlled Trial, a tag a paper can lack or carry loosely. Quality-test grades use the completed tests on one named commercial tester's page and say so. Regulatory status is the one grade a person sets, from FDA's own documents, and the page shows the documents.
What does Whitepill never publish?
- Dosing, cycling, reconstitution or protocols for any unapproved or injectable compound.
- Lists of sellers, or where to buy an unapproved, injectable or research-use-only compound.
- Treatment advice. Every guide ends with a line to take it to a licensed clinician.
- Purchase links for prescription drugs. They are covered for education only.
- A claim that a named person uses a compound, unless that person has said so on the record and we link it.
How do commissions and sponsors affect what you read?
They do not. As of 30 October 2026 the site earns nothing and carries no affiliate links. When it does, links will go only to over-the-counter products, they will be marked as sponsored, and a commission will never change a ranking, a verdict or a risk statement. Whitepill sells no placements, takes no payment from any seller of the compounds it covers, and runs no display advertising. It has no relationship with any tester, seller or regulator it cites. See the disclosure.
What happens when a figure is wrong?
Tell us on the corrections page with the source. We re-read the primary page, correct the figure, print the new read date and credit the correction. Regulatory status moves quickly, so a dated link helps most.
How often is a page re-read?
Guides that carry a regulatory status or a count are re-read at least every 30 days, and the same day a regulator acts on something they cover. The next review date is printed in each guide's byline.