How Trial Friend writes, sources, and fact-checks every word

Sources we trust

Every factual claim on Trial Friend traces back to one of: peer-reviewed medical literature (PubMed, NEJM, JAMA, Lancet, specialty journals), FDA documents (drug labels, approval announcements, advisory committee briefs), ClinicalTrials.gov, NIH and CDC publications, the Genetic Testing Registry, manufacturer Investor Relations press releases for pipeline updates, SEC filings (10-K, 10-Q, 8-K) for company-level facts, and disease-specific patient advocacy organizations recognized by NORD or the EveryLife Foundation.

Sources we do not treat as primary: Wikipedia, drug industry blogs, social media, and AI-generated summaries from other systems. These are useful starting points for finding primary sources but are never cited as the source of a claim.

Inline attribution, not bare numbers

When a Trial Friend post or page cites a statistic, dollar amount, study finding, or named claim, the source is woven into the sentence. The reader should know where a number came from without scrolling to the bottom of the post. The sources list at the end of every blog post is for verification, not as a substitute for inline attribution.

Sponsorship, advertising and the wall between business and editorial

Trial Friend is free and has no paywall. To keep it that way, it may accept sponsorship, sometimes called underwriting, and clearly labeled advertising from pharmaceutical companies, patient advocacy foundations, research organizations and other healthcare partners. It may also license reports built from public clinical trial records. These are the rules that govern all of it.

• Sponsorship is a credit, not content. A sponsored section shows a label such as “Supported by” followed by the sponsor's name. Sponsors do not write, edit, review or approve anything on Trial Friend, before or after it is published, and they do not see content before readers do.
• No paid mentions or product placement. Sponsors cannot pay to have a drug mentioned, described more favorably, listed first or listed at all. Drug pages, treatment comparisons, trial lists, Match Me results and the FDA calendar are ranked and written the same way whether or not a company is a sponsor.
• Conflicts are disclosed on the page. If a sponsor makes a treatment, or runs a trial, that appears on a page carrying its credit, the credit says so in plain words next to the sponsor's name.
• The founder's own work history is disclosed. Jason Hunter has done professional work for some companies whose products appear on Trial Friend. Posts that discuss those products say so at the end, and none of those companies reviewed, paid for or had any input into them.
• Advertising is labeled. Paid placements are marked “Sponsored” or “Advertisement” and are visually separate from editorial content. An ad or a sponsor credit is not an endorsement.
• Sponsors get aggregate numbers only. Page views and ad views, never email addresses, condition preferences, chat messages, ZIP codes or any record of an individual visit. See our Privacy Policy.
• Corrections are not for sale. Sponsors and advertisers can report a factual error the same way anyone can, and it is checked against the same primary sources. A business relationship never decides what gets corrected.
• Current sponsors are listed here. As of October 9, 2026, Trial Friend has no sponsors or advertisers.

What we do not do

• We do not auto-publish AI-generated content. Every post is reviewed for accuracy, tone, and patient-friendliness before going live.
• We do not let sponsors influence editorial content. Drug coverage, disease pages, comparison charts, and articles are editorially independent regardless of any business relationship with the manufacturer.
• We do not provide medical advice. Information is informational and educational. Treatment decisions belong with you and your physician.
• We do not sell, share, or monetize personal information. Advertisers and sponsors receive only totals, such as how many people viewed a page. See our Privacy Policy and Do Not Sell page for specifics.
• We do not refer patients to specific clinics, doctors, or treatment programs in exchange for compensation. Trial listings come directly from ClinicalTrials.gov.

How we handle uncertainty

Medicine is full of areas where the evidence is mixed, the guidelines disagree, or the patient community and mainstream literature don't fully align. When we cover those topics (the IDSA / ILADS divide on Lyme disease, MTHFR clinical actionability, off-label uses of approved drugs, contested diagnostic criteria for emerging syndromes), we name the disagreement rather than pretending it doesn't exist. We tell you what's solidly evidenced, what's debated, and where the literature stands. We don't pick sides for you.

How we use AI

Trial Friend is written and edited by Jason Hunter, and the thinking behind the site is his: what to cover, what patients need to know first, which sources count, and how each page and tool should work. AI tools help stitch that work together and validate it: finding and reading primary sources, drafting and editing text to his direction, checking facts, numbers and links against those sources, and monitoring ClinicalTrials.gov, FDA notices and company filings for changes every day.

AI does not decide what is published. Every article is checked against the sources it cites and approved by Jason before it goes live, and nothing is published automatically. AI output is never treated as a source: every fact on the site has to trace back to one of the primary documents listed above.

Freshness and updates

Drug pipelines move fast. FDA decisions land. Trials read out, get put on hold, or get terminated. Trial Friend runs an automated daily monitor that scans authoritative sources (ClinicalTrials.gov, FDA, SEC 8-K filings) for material changes affecting tracked conditions and drugs. When a change matters, we update the affected pages and (for major events) publish a focused blog post explaining what happened and what it means for patients. Every page has a last-reviewed indicator near the bottom.

Corrections policy

We will get things wrong. When we do, the correction process is fast and transparent. If you spot a factual error, an outdated claim, a missing citation, or a misrepresentation, please email jason@trialfriend.com with the page URL and the specific issue. We aim to acknowledge corrections within 24 hours and publish updates within 72 hours of verification. Material corrections (changed numbers, retracted claims) will be flagged inline on the page.

Contact

For corrections, source questions, partnership inquiries, or feedback on a specific page: jason@trialfriend.com.

For privacy questions: see our Privacy Policy. For general background on Trial Friend: about.