Safety Ratings

DISCLAIMER

These ratings are not meant to replace professional medical advice. Speak to your qualified health care professional about any questions you may have about a product before making any changes.

 

The safety ratings will address 5 patient types:

  • Pregnant
  • Breastfeeding
  • Children
  • Elderly (65+)
  • General population (otherwise healthy adults)

 

LIKELY HARMFUL

  • Collection of high quality, reliable scientific evidence showing:
    • Safety concerns
    • Serious negative effects
  • RECOMMENDATION: People in this box would generally be recommended to AVOID this product

NOT ENOUGH INFO

  • There is not enough scientific evidence to assign a safety rating
  • Common for pregnant or breastfeeding people, as well as children, because there are fewer studies done on those groups due to safety concerns
  • RECOMMENDATION: The product CANNOT BE RECOMMENDED to people in this box because it MIGHT cause harm, and it is not known how severe that harm could be

POSSIBLY UNSAFE

  • Some MODERATE quality evidence exists showing the product is safe when used at specific doses, but studies may be:
    • Contradicted by other studies
    • Have very small size of patients studied
    • Have higher chances of bias or error because of how the study was designed
  • RECOMMENDATION: Because there is some evidence of potential danger with this product, it is generally NOT RECOMMENDED for people in this box

POSSIBLY SAFE

  •  Some MODERATE quality evidence exists showing the product is safe when used at specific doses, but studies may be:
    • Contradicted by other studies
    • Have very small size of patients studied
    • Have higher chances of bias or error because of how the study was designed
  • RECOMMENDATION: Because there is not enough evidence showing the safety of this product, it is generally NOT RECOMMENDED for most people in this box

LIKELY SAFE

  • Collection of HIGH quality, reliable scientific evidence showing the product is safe when used at specific doses
  • RECOMMENDATION: This product might be recommended for people in this box, depending on their:
    • Health conditions
    • Medication list
    • Herb/supplement list
    • Primary and specialty health care provider's opinions