Editorial Standards, Medical Review and Disclosures

Key takeaways

• Facts come first from FDA labels and records, then government health agencies, society guidelines and peer-reviewed trials.^[1]
• Randomized controlled trials carry the most weight for health claims, in line with FTC guidance on health products.^[6]
• Investigational drugs are never called approved: by FDA figures, only about 25-30% of Phase 3 drugs move on.^[2]
• Compounded drugs and dietary supplements carry badges that say "not FDA approved", because the FDA does not approve them before they are sold.^[3]
• Affiliate disclosures sit close to the link and in every footer, as the FTC Endorsement Guides expect.^[5]

In short: Every fact on InstaTuck comes from a source you can check, starting with FDA labels and government health agencies, then professional guidelines and peer-reviewed studies. Each page moves through four steps (draft, fact check, review, approved), and pages about medications, supplements, conditions and procedures cannot go live until a licensed professional has reviewed them. Prices, coverage and approvals carry the date we checked them, and every affiliate relationship is disclosed.

Health information affects real decisions, so we want you to see exactly how ours is made. This page is our rulebook. If you find a page that does not live up to it, please tell us through the contact page.

Where our facts come from: the source hierarchy

Not all sources are equal. When two sources disagree, the one higher on this list wins, and we say when the evidence is mixed:

1. Official labels and FDA records. A medication’s approved uses, warnings and side effects come from its FDA prescribing information (usually read on DailyMed) or an FDA page. The FDA approves a drug when its benefits appear to outweigh its known risks for the intended use, and the label is the record of that decision.
2. Government health agencies. The National Institutes of Health (including NIDDK), the CDC, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
3. Professional society guidelines. For example, obesity medicine, diabetes, endocrinology, bariatric surgery, plastic surgery and dermatology societies.
4. Peer-reviewed research. Randomized trials and systematic reviews first. The FTC notes that randomized, controlled human trials are generally the kind of evidence experts expect for health benefit claims, so we give them more weight than small or uncontrolled studies.
5. Reputable news. Only for facts that are reported, such as a company announcement, and labeled that way.

We do not use testimonials, marketing claims or social media posts as evidence. Every page lists its references at the end, with links, journal details and the date we accessed them. If you want to judge a study yourself, our Learn hub explains how to read weight-loss research.

Our workflow: draft, fact check, review, approved

1. Draft. A writer builds the page from sources, with every claim linked to a reference record.
2. Fact check. An editor checks each claim against its source, removes anything that cannot be verified, and makes sure dated facts carry a date.
3. Medical or editorial review. Pages about prescription medications, supplements and medical conditions need a physician (MD or DO) or a pharmacist. Diet and nutrition pages that make specific recommendations need a registered dietitian or a physician. Procedure and body-contouring pages need a surgeon or a dermatologist. Other pages get an editorial review, and some are marked “review recommended”.
4. Approved. Only an editor can approve a page. Our publishing system blocks medical pages from going live until they are approved with a named reviewer.

A reviewed page shows “Medically reviewed by”, the reviewer’s name and credential, and the review date. We never show a reviewer who did not review the page. Reviewed pages are scheduled for a fresh review within 12 months, and sooner when something important changes, such as a new FDA approval or warning.

How we use AI

We use AI writing tools to help draft, summarize and organize pages. They make research faster; they do not replace it. Our rules:

• An AI-assisted page is flagged in our system and keeps a history of what was generated and when.
• Nothing an AI tool writes is published automatically. Every AI-assisted page goes through the same fact check and review as any other page.
• An AI tool is never a source. Every claim must trace back to a label, an agency, a guideline or a study.
• We never put readers’ personal information into AI tools.

Status badges: what each label means

Badges are generated from each record’s verified regulatory status, never typed by hand, and show the date we last checked. The main ones:

• FDA approved for weight management and FDA approved for another indication: the label decides which applies. A drug approved for diabetes is not automatically approved for weight loss.
• Investigational and Clinical trial: still being studied. We never call these “approved”. Most drugs that enter human testing do not reach approval: by the FDA’s own figures, only about 25 to 30% of drugs in Phase 3 move to the next phase.
• Compounded (not FDA approved): compounded drugs are not FDA approved, and the FDA does not review them for safety, effectiveness or quality before they are marketed.
• Dietary supplement (not FDA approved): the FDA does not have the authority to approve supplements before they are sold.
• FDA cleared device, Medical device and Cosmetic treatment: devices go through different FDA pathways than drugs, and cosmetic treatments are not weight-loss treatments.

The full list, with examples, is in what our status badges mean. Medication facts start on our medications hub, and our page on compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide explains why the “compounded” badge matters.

Dated facts and regular re-checks

Some facts go out of date quickly. These always carry a “checked on” date, and we re-check them on a schedule:

• Regulatory status (approvals, indications, boxed warnings): at least every 90 days, and right away when the FDA announces a change.
• Prices and savings programs: monthly, on pages such as Wegovy cost and in our GLP-1 cost comparison tool.
• Insurance coverage rules: quarterly, on our insurance hub.

When a status changes, our system lists every page that mentions the product so an editor can review them together.

Corrections

We get things wrong sometimes, and we want to know. Send a correction through our contact page with the page address and what looks wrong. An editor checks every report against the sources. When we fix a factual error, we update the page and its “updated” date; when a correction changes the meaning of medical information, the page goes back through review. If you have had a side effect from a medicine, please also report it to your clinician and to the FDA’s MedWatch program, which accepts reports from the public.

Affiliate links and the FTC disclosure

We may earn a commission when you buy or sign up through some links. The FTC’s Endorsement Guides say a disclosure should be clear and conspicuous and as close as possible to the recommendation, so a disclosure line appears above the first affiliate link on a page, and in the footer of every page. Affiliate links go through addresses that start with /go/ and are marked as sponsored for search engines. Commissions never change the order of a list, a scorecard value or what we write. More about how the site is funded is on our About page.

Product cards appear on gear, nutrition and exercise pages. On medication and procedure pages, products appear only at the end (for example a scale or a protein powder), and we never place supplements next to prescription information. We do not link to sellers of compounded drugs or “research peptides”.

Images

• We show real, diverse adults enjoying food and movement, clinicians at work and modern medication imagery. Photos are stock images with models unless a caption says otherwise.
• No before-and-after photos at launch. If we ever show them, they will be licensed, consented, labeled and shown with context about typical results.
• No shame imagery: no headless bodies, pinched waists or tape-measure clichés.
• Charts and diagrams are drawn from the sources cited on the page.

Language we use, and avoid

We write “people with obesity”, not labels that reduce a person to their weight. We avoid hype: no promises of certain or effortless results, and no claims that a product burns fat from one spot. We do not tell any reader that they qualify for a treatment or what dose to take; we report what labels and guidelines say and leave the decision to you and your clinician. Weight loss, body contouring and body recomposition are different goals, and we keep them apart: see shape and look better for how they differ.

Questions to ask a professional

• Is the source behind this claim a label, a guideline or a single study, and how strong is it?
• Was this study done in people like me (age, health conditions, medications)?
• Is this treatment FDA approved for the use I am considering, or is it off-label, compounded or a supplement?
• Has anything changed since this page was last checked, such as a new warning or approval?

Frequently asked questions

Who reviews medical pages on InstaTuck?

Medication, supplement and condition pages need a physician (MD or DO) or a pharmacist; specific diet and nutrition pages need a registered dietitian or a physician; procedure pages need a surgeon or a dermatologist. The reviewer is named on the page with the review date.

What does "facts checked on" mean?

It is the date an editor last confirmed the page's facts against its sources. Prices, insurance rules and approvals also carry their own "checked on" dates because they change more often.

Do you use AI to write pages?

AI tools help us draft and organize. Every AI-assisted page is flagged internally, checked fact by fact by a person, reviewed like any other page and never published automatically.

How quickly do you fix mistakes?

An editor reviews every correction request. Factual fixes update the page and its date; changes to medical information go back through medical review before they are published.

Can a company pay for a better score?

No. Scorecards and order are editorial. Commissions and any future paid listings never change values, order or what we write, and paid listings will always be labeled.

References

1. FDA’s Drug Review Process: Continued. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (accessed October 6, 2026) Government page
2. Step 3: Clinical Research. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (accessed October 6, 2026) Government page
3. FDA’s concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2026. (accessed October 7, 2026) Government page
4. Questions and Answers on Dietary Supplements. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (accessed October 7, 2026) Government page
5. FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking. Federal Trade Commission. (accessed October 6, 2026) Government page
6. Health Products Compliance Guidance. Federal Trade Commission, 2022. (accessed October 6, 2026) Government page
7. MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (accessed October 6, 2026) Government page

Facts checked on October 6, 2026

Educational information, not medical advice. Talk with a qualified healthcare professional about your own situation. In an emergency call 911.