Frequently Asked Questions

The volume of research and data and the need for rapid decisions made it difficult to base COVID-19 policy on science. Similarly qualified experts presented contradictory conclusions, and very different policies for treatments and interventions were adopted around the world. We felt that attempts to organize and make the research and data easier to navigate, highlighting areas of applicability, and analyzing limitations, could be beneficial. For example, we noticed that treatment delay was often being ignored. Results for an antiviral tested several days after symptoms cannot be generalized to results for early treatment, yet this was often done, with lethal consequences.

We catalog 8,317 potential treatments, of which we currently analyze 109 of the most effective, promising, and widely used early treatments. There are also many treatments that are helpful for late stage patients, however we focus on early treatment.

All significant original contributions related to the use of the treatments we cover, including searches of the typical sources augmented by contributions from the community. Covering all research is important because it is easy to choose a search strategy that results in a subset of papers reporting a desired conclusion. This is especially so if papers are reported at face value without examining the actual data, methods, or regions of applicability.

We do not provide medical advice. Before taking any medication, consult a qualified physician who can provide personalized advice and details of risks and benefits based on your medical history and current situation.

This was an attempt to minimize the harm of scientific censorship. Science for COVID-19 treatments has received varying levels of censorship, and the hope is that censorship of one treatment does not affect the others. This has only been partially helpful — manual censorship actions have been applied to all treatments we analyze, including those approved by the US FDA.

We are PhD researchers, scientists, people who hope to make a contribution, even if it is only very minor. You can find our research in journals like Science and Nature. We have little interest in adding to our publication lists, being in the news, or being on TV (we have done these things before but feel there are more important things in life now).

We provide organization and analysis, but all sources are public and verifiable. For the meta analyses, all data required to reproduce the analysis is contained in the appendix, with direct links to the original source papers.

No journals currently accept real-time updates. Most COVID-19 meta analyses published in journals are out of date, and they often contain uncorrected errors or misleading statements. With real-time updates we can present up to date information, and we can rapidly incorporate feedback from peer reviews.

We have no funding, this is done in our spare time and we pay the web hosting fees personally (about $100 per month).

We don't accept donations (it could be a conflict of interest).

Yes. You can use any of our work free of charge.