Editorial policy

This is how the pages here are written, and how you can check them without taking anybody's word for it.

Every page has a tier

Each page carries a mark of A, B or C, and the mark sets what the page has to prove before it goes up.

• Tier A — the pages about the condition and what to do about it. Every claim is sourced, and the page needs a named clinician to review it.
• Tier B — pages that state a fact that is not clinical, such as what a product label says. Every claim is sourced.
• Tier C — pages that make no claim about the condition, such as this one, the story, and the legal pages.

A Tier C page that starts citing sources has become a Tier B page, and it is marked as one.

A claim carries the source's own words

Every Tier A and Tier B page has a source file beside it. Each claim in that file names the document, links to it, and holds the exact sentence that backs the claim. The sentence is copied, never reworded, so you can open the original and see whether it says what the page says it says. A claim with no quotation behind it does not go on the page. All of them are gathered on the sources page.

Pages go stale, and say so

Every page records the date its claims were last checked, and how long that check is good for. Once that runs out, the page tells you so at the top. It does not quietly stay up looking current.

Review, and what is missing

No page here has yet been read by a named clinician; the front page says so. Nothing here is medical advice and nothing here replaces a doctor. No name is on this site, and the reasoning for that is on why this site is anonymous.

Telling us we got it wrong

If a page is wrong, out of date, or leaves out something that matters, please report it. A claim that cannot be backed by its source is removed rather than softened.