Editorial & Medical Review Policy

Our Editorial and Medical Review Policy

Scale Solutions operates in the YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) category of web content — specifically, health information that could influence medical decisions. We take that responsibility seriously. This page explains exactly how content on scale-solutions.com is created, reviewed, maintained, and corrected.

If you are a patient reading this, we want you to be able to evaluate our credibility for yourself. If you are a healthcare professional or researcher reviewing our content, we hope this policy demonstrates our commitment to factual integrity and appropriate sourcing.

Who Produces and Reviews Our Content

Medical Reviewer

Dr. Donald L. Gates, MD
Founder and Medical Director, Scale Solutions
Training: Loma Linda University
Specialty focus: Bariatric medicine since 1999

Dr. Gates personally reviews all clinical content published on this website before publication. This includes all pages describing medical treatments, drug mechanisms, clinical evidence, dosing information, side effects, insurance coverage implications, and patient eligibility criteria. No clinical content on this site goes live without his review and sign-off.

Content Development

Content is developed with input from professional health writers and reviewed against primary sources (see Source Standards below). Writers are instructed to work from primary literature and official regulatory sources — not from other health websites, social media, or unverified secondary sources.

Review Frequency

All clinical pages on this website are reviewed on the following schedule:

• Minimum annual review: Every clinical page is reviewed at least once every 12 months to ensure that content remains current with FDA labeling, clinical guidelines, and published evidence
• Event-triggered review: Pages are reviewed immediately following significant regulatory changes (e.g., new FDA approvals or safety communications), major new clinical trial publications (NEJM, Lancet, JAMA), or changes in major clinical society guidelines (ADA, ASMBS, ESHRE, ACOG)
• Insurance and coverage pages: Because payer coverage criteria change more frequently than clinical data, insurance-related pages are reviewed every 6 months and updated when verified coverage changes are confirmed

Each clinical page includes a “Last medically reviewed” date visible to readers. Pages without this date are non-clinical (e.g., this editorial policy page itself) or are currently pending review and should be treated accordingly.

Source Standards

Scale Solutions uses only the following categories of sources for clinical claims:

Tier 1: Regulatory and Official

• FDA-approved prescribing information (drug labels) — the authoritative source for approved indications, contraindications, dosing, and black-box warnings
• FDA safety communications, drug shortage notifications, and guidance documents
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) coverage determinations and rulemaking
• CDC surveillance data for disease prevalence statistics

Tier 2: Clinical Society Guidelines

• American Diabetes Association (ADA) Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes
• American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) clinical guidelines
• Obesity Society position statements
• Endocrine Society clinical practice guidelines
• European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) guidelines, where referenced for PCOS content

Tier 3: Peer-Reviewed Clinical Literature

• Randomized controlled trials published in peer-reviewed journals (New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Lancet, Diabetes Care, Obesity, and others)
• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses from recognized journals
• NIH-funded research (DPP, ACCORD, SELECT, STEP program, SURMOUNT program, and similar large trials)

Sources We Do Not Use

• Other health websites, health blogs, or wellness publications as primary sources
• Social media claims or anecdotal reports not verified by clinical research
• Press releases from pharmaceutical companies without accompanying peer-reviewed publication
• Preprints not yet peer-reviewed (unless clearly disclosed as such with a note that data are preliminary)

Citation Practices

Clinical claims on our patient-facing pages reference the type and approximate year of supporting evidence (e.g., “a 2022 randomized trial published in NEJM”). We deliberately use generalized citations rather than full reference lists because:

1. Full citation lists can create an impression of precision that is misleading on complex topics where the evidence is nuanced
2. We believe readers are better served by understanding the quality and type of evidence (e.g., “a large RCT” vs. “a small observational study”) than by a reference number they cannot easily access
3. When specific evidence is critical to a claim, we provide sufficient detail for readers to locate the source independently

For readers who want to verify specific claims, we welcome the request. Email us at the corrections address below and we will provide the specific source for any referenced study.

What We Do Not Claim

In the interest of transparency, here are the categories of claims you will not find on this website:

• Off-label claims without disclosure. When we discuss a medication for an indication not on its FDA label (e.g., semaglutide for PCOS), we explicitly note that the use is off-label and explain the evidentiary basis.
• Unsupported efficacy claims. We do not claim patients will lose a specific amount of weight, achieve specific lab values, or experience specific outcomes. We describe what clinical trials found on average — with the clear note that individual results vary.
• Unverified credential claims. Dr. Gates’s credentials as stated on this site reflect verified facts: training at Loma Linda University, and bariatric medicine practice since 1999. We make no claims about board certifications or specialty society memberships that have not been independently confirmed.
• Compounded medication claims beyond legal permissibility. Following FDA’s removal of semaglutide and tirzepatide from its shortage list in early 2025, the legal landscape for compounded versions of these drugs changed significantly. We do not make claims about the availability or equivalence of compounded formulations beyond what is legally and medically accurate as of the date of publication.
• Testimonials without written consent. Our patient stories page contains only HIPAA-compliant, consent-documented stories. No testimonial or patient-identifying information appears on this site without signed patient authorization on file.

Corrections Policy

We are committed to correcting errors promptly and transparently. If you believe any information on this website is factually inaccurate, outdated, or misleading:

• Email us at: info@scale-solutions.com with the subject line “Content Correction Request”
• Include: the page URL, the specific claim in question, and the source supporting the correction
• We will review all correction requests within 5 business days
• Substantiated corrections are made promptly; the corrected page will display an updated “Last medically reviewed” date
• If the original claim was meaningfully misleading, a note will be added to the page acknowledging the correction

We do not delete correction requests or suppress factual challenges. Accuracy is more important to us than consistency with our original text.

Questions About This Policy

If you have questions about our content standards, sourcing, or medical review process, contact us at info@scale-solutions.com or call our main line at (912) 352-7546. You can also visit any of our three Georgia clinic locations in person.

This editorial policy page does not itself contain medical advice. For clinical questions, please consult Dr. Gates or another qualified clinician.