How we research

Method & sourcing

Our process, in plain terms — and why every claim carries a source.

Every claim is cited

Each entry is produced by interviewing the same topic from six expert lenses — a regulatory attorney, a clinical endocrinologist, a skeptical pharmacologist, a compounding pharmacist, a consumer-protection / harm-reduction advocate, and a sports anti-doping (WADA) expert. Every factual statement that reaches a published page carries at least one primary source from those interviews.

We separate fact from hope

We distinguish clearly between what is FDA-approved, what is legally compounded, what is sold gray-market, and what is simply unproven — and between human clinical-trial evidence and animal or test-tube findings. Research-area labels describe where a compound has been studied, never what it does for you.

A compliance gate before anything is published

Before an entry is approved it must pass an automated compliance and quality review: no uncited claims, no disease-treatment claims on unapproved products, no individualized medical or dosing advice, and no commerce. A compliance failure stops publication and routes the draft to a human. A separate faithfulness check verifies that each citation actually supports the sentence it is attached to.

We keep it current

Regulatory and anti-doping status changes. We monitor a watchlist of fast-moving topics and update entries when the underlying facts move.

Why this exists

Proven Panel is an independent education desk, not a pharmacy. It is educational material, not medical, legal, or pharmaceutical advice. We do not sell products, run a store, or earn affiliate commissions. There are no “buy” links anywhere on this site — only sourced, neutral summaries of what the published literature reports.