Our Methodology
The step-by-step process behind every medication page and interaction rule on this site.
Step 1: identify the product
We start from a specific FDA-approved product: the labeled generic ingredient, the brand, the dosage form, and the strength. A page covers a specific product, not a generic drug class, because schedules, formulations, and warnings differ between them.
Step 2: establish legal status
We determine the US controlled-substance schedule from the current Code of Federal Regulations and DEA listings, not from secondary articles. We note explicitly when a drug is not federally scheduled, because that distinction is widely misreported. Federally unscheduled still does not mean a drug is available without a prescription: it may be state-controlled, or prescription-only by other federal law, or simply not approved for over-the-counter sale.
Step 3: extract interactions from labeling
Interaction rules are taken from the Drug Interactions and Warnings and Precautions sections of the relevant labeling, or from an FDA Drug Safety Communication. We do not infer interactions from chemical structure or drug class alone.
Each rule is given a severity:
- Contraindicated — labeling says do not combine.
- Major — avoid, or use only with explicit oversight and monitoring.
- Moderate — not an emergency, but discuss before starting or stopping.
Every rule on the site carries a link to the labeling it came from.
Step 4: write the answer first
Each page opens with the direct answer, because that is what someone searching for "Can you get X without a prescription?" needs to know immediately. Supporting detail, legal context, and sources follow. We write for a general reader and define terms on first use.
Step 5: verify and date
Before a page publishes, its schedule, source links, and interaction severities are checked. Every page displays its last-reviewed date. When labeling changes, the page is updated and the change is recorded on our corrections page.
What we deliberately do not do
We do not publish pill identification data that we cannot verify against an authoritative source, and we do not publish dosage recommendations. Those are areas where a confident wrong answer causes real harm, and they require the actual product in hand or a clinical judgement we cannot substitute for.