Policy

How to use this site safely

A consumer-facing guide to reading Peptide Authority well — how to interpret evidence grades, UK-status pills, contradictions, and when to leave the site and call 111 or 999.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-20

This page is for readers who land on Peptide Authority and want to make sense of what they're reading. The site is comprehensive, but comprehensive isn't the same as personalised — and the small visual cues on each page matter. Here's how to read them.

What the evidence-grade letters mean

Most peptide pages carry an evidence grade — A, B, C, D, or E. The full methodology lives at /evidence-grading-methodology; the short version is:

A — strong human evidence. Licensed medicine and/or systematic reviews of human randomised trials. This is the highest claim we make.
B — moderate human evidence. Multiple human trials, some inconsistency or limited size.
C — limited human evidence. Small or single human studies; outcomes uncertain.
D — animal / cell evidence only. No published human trials. Human relevance is unproven.
E — theoretical / insufficient. Mechanism, anecdote, or theory only. No reliable evidence.

The honest takeaway: if a page is graded D or E, the marketing claims you have seen elsewhere are almost certainly running ahead of the evidence.

What the UK-status pill means

The pill next to the evidence grade tells you the UK regulatory position of the compound itself:

Licensed medicine (UK) — has at least one MHRA authorisation for a human use.
Prescription-only (UK POM) — lawful access is through a registered UK prescriber and a regulated pharmacy.
Unlicensed (UK) — not a licensed medicine for any indication. The MHRA has not authorised human use.
Sold as ‘research only’ — marketed by suppliers as “research use only” or “not for human consumption”. That label does not by itself make human use lawful.

What the anti-doping pill means

For athletes, the WADA pill flags whether a compound is on the Prohibited List (S0-S9, M1-M3). Anti-doping is strict liability — you are responsible for what is in your body, even if a product was contaminated or mislabelled. If you compete under WADA rules, treat the pill as load-bearing.

What “at-a-glance” vs “evidence panel” tell you

Every peptide page has a sticky “at a glance” box on the right (on large screens) with seven rows: evidence grade, UK legal status, approved medicine?, human data, main safety uncertainty, anti-doping risk, last reviewed. That box is the 30-second take.

Lower down the page is the full Evidence Standards Panel — 20 modules that break down approved uses, claim-vs-evidence matrices, safety signals, drug-interaction uncertainty, research gaps, and safer alternatives. That panel is the 10-minute take.

If a Peptide Authority page contradicts something you read elsewhere

The most common contradictions, and how to think about them:

A clinic claims a peptide treats a condition we say it doesn't. The clinic is marketing; we are summarising the published evidence. Clinics that make therapeutic claims for unlicensed peptides may be breaching UK advertising law. See clinic claim red flags.
A YouTube video shows someone “dosing” a peptide. We will not publish doses; the video is publishing them anyway. The reasons we don't are at no dosing, no sourcing.
A supplier site cites “a study” we haven't mentioned. Click through and check whether the study is in humans, indexed in PubMed, and actually addresses the claim being made on the supplier's page. The most common pattern is a real animal study being misquoted as a human finding.
A Peptide Authority page disagrees with another Peptide Authority page. That's an error. Please report it via the corrections process.

When to leave the site and call someone

You injected something and now feel unwell. Call NHS 111 (or 999 for severe symptoms — chest pain, breathing difficulty, fainting, severe allergic reaction). Tell the clinician exactly what you took — “an unlicensed peptide bought online” is more useful information than no information.
You suspect a counterfeit pen. Stop using it, keep it (do not throw away — the MHRA may want to see it), and report via the Yellow Card scheme. See our Yellow Card guide.
You are in mental-health crisis. Samaritans 116 123 (24/7). NHS 111 option 2. 999 or A&E if life is at risk.
You are an athlete and you may have ingested a prohibited substance. Contact UKAD or your sport's anti-doping officer; do not wait until a test result forces it.

What the evidence-grade letters mean

Most peptide pages carry an evidence grade — A, B, C, D, or E. The full methodology lives at /evidence-grading-methodology; the short version is:

A — strong human evidence. Licensed medicine and/or systematic reviews of human randomised trials. This is the highest claim we make.

B — moderate human evidence. Multiple human trials, some inconsistency or limited size.

C — limited human evidence. Small or single human studies; outcomes uncertain.

D — animal / cell evidence only. No published human trials. Human relevance is unproven.

E — theoretical / insufficient. Mechanism, anecdote, or theory only. No reliable evidence.

The honest takeaway: if a page is graded D or E, the marketing claims you have seen elsewhere are almost certainly running ahead of the evidence.

What the UK-status pill means

The pill next to the evidence grade tells you the UK regulatory position of the compound itself:

Licensed medicine (UK) — has at least one MHRA authorisation for a human use.

Prescription-only (UK POM) — lawful access is through a registered UK prescriber and a regulated pharmacy.

Unlicensed (UK) — not a licensed medicine for any indication. The MHRA has not authorised human use.

Sold as ‘research only’ — marketed by suppliers as “research use only” or “not for human consumption”. That label does not by itself make human use lawful.

What “at-a-glance” vs “evidence panel” tell you

If a Peptide Authority page contradicts something you read elsewhere

The most common contradictions, and how to think about them:

A clinic claims a peptide treats a condition we say it doesn't. The clinic is marketing; we are summarising the published evidence. Clinics that make therapeutic claims for unlicensed peptides may be breaching UK advertising law. See clinic claim red flags.

A YouTube video shows someone “dosing” a peptide. We will not publish doses; the video is publishing them anyway. The reasons we don't are at no dosing, no sourcing.

A supplier site cites “a study” we haven't mentioned. Click through and check whether the study is in humans, indexed in PubMed, and actually addresses the claim being made on the supplier's page. The most common pattern is a real animal study being misquoted as a human finding.

A Peptide Authority page disagrees with another Peptide Authority page. That's an error. Please report it via the corrections process.

When to leave the site and call someone

You injected something and now feel unwell. Call NHS 111 (or 999 for severe symptoms — chest pain, breathing difficulty, fainting, severe allergic reaction). Tell the clinician exactly what you took — “an unlicensed peptide bought online” is more useful information than no information.

You suspect a counterfeit pen. Stop using it, keep it (do not throw away — the MHRA may want to see it), and report via the Yellow Card scheme. See our Yellow Card guide.

You are in mental-health crisis. Samaritans 116 123 (24/7). NHS 111 option 2. 999 or A&E if life is at risk.

You are an athlete and you may have ingested a prohibited substance. Contact UKAD or your sport's anti-doping officer; do not wait until a test result forces it.