Editorial and medical review policy
How this site decides what to publish, how providers are scored, and how commercial relationships are kept away from the findings.
Prices come from providers’ own published pages and one independent index, each with a check date. Providers are scored with published weights; affiliate status is not one of them. The Editor’s Pick is the lowest predictable all-in cost among programs that disclose their pharmacy and require a prescription. Medical statements are reviewed against FDA labeling. Corrections are logged.
Who does what
Eduard Cristea (Editor) verifies prices and writes the comparisons. Dr. A. Goher, MD (Medical Reviewer) reviews clinical statements and has no role in rankings, pricing or the Editor’s Pick. Ronika Partners LLC publishes the site. No provider employee has editorial access.
Inclusion rules
A provider is included in the comparison when it publishes a cash price for compounded tirzepatide, requires a prescription after clinician evaluation, and ships to U.S. patients. Providers are not added or removed because of affiliate relationships, and a provider that declines to work with us is compared on the same terms as one that does. A provider that will not name its dispensing pharmacy is included but marked, and cannot be the Editor’s Pick.
Scoring weights
| Factor | Weight | Evidence we accept |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical oversight (licensed clinician evaluation, reachable during titration) | 20% | Provider’s published process; our own intake check where possible |
| Pharmacy transparency (named, licensed 503A/503B) | 15% | Provider disclosure verified against a state board or FDA 503B list |
| Evidence-based protocols (labeled titration schedule) | 15% | Published dosing policy |
| Published outcomes | 10% | Provider-published data, marked as self-reported |
| Price transparency (all-in price visible before checkout) | 10% | Published plan page |
| Total cost through the maintenance dose | 10% | Our 12-month calculation from published prices |
| Regulatory compliance signals (prescription required, no equivalence or approval claims) | 10% | Provider marketing reviewed against FDA notices |
| Patient support (refills, response channels) | 10% | Published policy; not ranked when unverifiable |
| Independent reputation | 5% | Third-party sources; forum posts are never sole evidence |
| Technology and monitoring | 5% | Published features |
Where a factor cannot be verified for a provider, it is scored as unknown and the comparison table shows verify. We publish confidence ratings for the claims that matter most, and we do not name a winner in a category where evidence is insufficient (customer support and clinical outcomes are two such categories today).
How the Editor’s Pick is chosen
The Editor’s Pick is the program with the lowest predictable all-in cost across a 12-month course at a maintenance dose, among programs that publish their price, require a prescription, name their pharmacy and do not raise the price by dose. It is re-evaluated whenever a qualifying program’s pricing changes and at least monthly. As of August 25, 2026 the pick is NexLife ($139/month on the 12-month plan; $169 month-to-month), which is not the lowest sticker price in the index (Embody, $129/month, is) and is described that way on every page. The pick carries a sponsored link; it would carry the same designation without one. If a lower-cost qualifying program appears, the pick changes and the change is logged.
Affiliate controls
- Sponsored links are labeled “Sponsored” before the click and use
rel="sponsored". - Sponsored calls to action are visually separate from the comparison tables and never inside a ranking cell.
- Commission rates, if any, are not known to the editor when scoring; the editor scores from published facts only.
- Negative findings about a sponsored provider are published and stay published (for example, that NexLife is not the cheapest sticker price).
- We do not accept payment for placement, reviews or removals.
Medical review
Pages containing dosing, side-effect, contraindication, evidence or safety statements are reviewed by the medical reviewer against the FDA-approved labeling and the primary literature before they carry the “Clinically reviewed” line. Statements about compounded products never borrow the brand product’s evidence: we say what the trials studied and what they did not. Qualifiers stay in the same sentence as the claim so that a quotation cannot drop them. Regulatory status statements are dated and labeled proposed or final, and the FDA status page is reviewed within 24 hours of an FDA action we become aware of.
Use of AI tools
We use software, including AI tools, to draft, restructure and check text and to keep prices consistent across pages from a single data file. Every price, regulatory statement and medical claim is verified by a named person before publication; nothing is published from an AI system without that check.
Freshness
We change a page’s date only when its content changes substantively; a re-check that finds no change is noted in the change log without moving the date. Provider prices are re-verified at least monthly and within two business days of a reported change.
Corrections
Email corrections@affordablecompoundedtirzepatide.com with the page, the claim, and your source. We acknowledge within 5 business days; confirmed material price errors are corrected within 2 business days and logged on the page’s change log. Other confirmed errors are corrected on the next update and logged. We do not remove a page’s history to hide a mistake.
Change log
Substantive changes to this page are logged so readers and AI systems can judge how current it is.
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| August 26, 2026 | Policy expanded from a two-paragraph statement to a full editorial and medical review policy: roles, inclusion rules, weights, Editor’s Pick method, affiliate controls, AI use, freshness and corrections. |