We read what your doctors read, and tell you for free.
Most of MDandMe users do not have immediate access to a doctor. But usually, after our AI Arora helps them figure out what might be going on, they can follow the same up-to-date medical guidelines that their doctors read to treat their symptoms in the meantime. The first-line medical recommendations for many common medical conditions, from chronic dry cough to yeast infection to eczema are available entirely or mostly over-the-counter.
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications are available without a prescription because they are considered safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration for treating common illnesses and symptoms. There are over 440 OTC-approved active ingredients (the component in a product that produces a direct medical effect) as of January 2025.
Unfortunately, most products sold at drug stores and online contain compounds not evaluated by the FDA or listed as one of over 900 not-approved common compounds due to insufficient evidence of their efficacy or safety for certain indications. Additionally, not all prior FDA approvals reflect the most up-to-date clinical practice guidelines. For example, of the 29 laxatives listed in FDA Monograph 7, only 1-2 are recommended by clinical guidelines as first-line.
We have performed an extensive review of all conditions where prescription-free medications and at-home tools play a role in guideline-recommended medical management. In many cases, these non-prescription tools are the gold standard first-line management option that your doctor would recommend when practicing evidence-based medicine. We then provide recommendations of products with the best balance of price, quality, and user satisfaction.
How we review evidence:
Literature Review: For each condition, we performed a literature review to find a recent widely cited expert group guideline published in the leading specialty-specific peer-reviewed journal or top general medical journal.
OTC Solution Review: Based on the recommendations in the publication, we identify recommended active ingredients and devices that are available over-the-counter per FDA regulations.
Levels of evidence considered:
Tier 1 (Safe and Definitely Effective): Professional field consensus or multiple randomized controlled clinical trials showing the same conclusion. Wherever possible, we use Tier 1 evidence for "first-line" recommendations.
Tier 2 (Safe and Probably Effective): Individual clinical trials which may be discordant or large-scale observational experience. Tier 2 evidence may inform "first-line", "second-line", or "supplement" recommendations.
Tier 3 (Safe and Maybe Effective): Mechanistic plausibility without high-quality clinical evidence of efficacy but high-quality evidence of safety. Tier 3 evidence may inform "second-line" or "supplement" recommendations.
How we select recommended products:
Rigorous review: Based on the top clinical recommendation, we evaluate products containing the recommended active agent with FDA-approved dosage based on price, average customer reviews, how often it is purchased, and how quickly it will ship to home.
Transparency: We provide public documentation of the active ingredients in our recommendations, using all 32 FDA monographs, Prescription-to-Nonprescription (Rx-to-OTC) Switches, as well as New Drug Application (NDA) approvals.
How we select devices:
Rigorous review: Based on the top clinical recommendation, we evaluate devices that are FDA-cleared or comply with other medical guidelines (if not a FDA-regulated category) by reputability, price, and average customer reviews.
Transparency: We provide public documentation of supporting evidence for each device and hunt down FDA authorizations where applicable.