What our status labels attest to
We publish a status, a source and a date against every treatment. This page states precisely what that does and does not claim, because a label a referring physician cannot interpret is worse than no label.
What a verification is
A verification is an administrative check, not a clinical or scientific one. It confirms that on the date shown, the named pathway was open to new international cases at the named institution, under the rule stated.
It does not assert that a treatment is safe, that it is effective, that the evidence supporting it is adequate, or that it is appropriate for any particular patient. Those are clinical judgements and they remain yours and the treating hospital's.
We check availability and regulatory basis because those are the questions we can answer from public records and direct confirmation with the institution. We deliberately do not opine on the rest.
What we check, and how
Every status on the site is produced the same way.
- The rule the pathway operates underWhether the treatment is registered for the indication, admitted under a named special-access authorisation, run as a registered trial, or offered as an institutional translational programme.
- The authorising bodyWhich regulator or administration granted it. Recorded by name, not as "approved" without an actor.
- The public referenceThe registration, notice or trial identifier that a reader can look up independently of us.
- Current openness to international casesConfirmed with the institution, since a pathway can be regulatorily valid and still closed to new foreign admissions.
- The date a person last confirmed itNot the publication date of the page. Anything older than 90 days is re-confirmed before a case is passed to that hospital.
What we do not check
We do not evaluate trial design, endpoints, or the strength of the evidence base. We do not compare outcomes between institutions, and we do not publish success rates.
We do not verify individual clinicians' competence. We record the licence details a hospital provides for the reviewing physician and pass them to you; assessing them is your judgement.
We do not decide eligibility. Where a treatment page lists eligibility conditions, those are the hospital's stated criteria reproduced, not our assessment of your patient against them.
When a pathway closes
Pathways close — an authorisation lapses, a trial completes enrolment, an institution stops accepting international cases. When that happens the status moves to "Unverified / unavailable" and the page stays up.
We do not delete it, because a link you or your patient were sent months ago should still resolve and should still tell you what changed. A page that quietly disappears is indistinguishable from one that never existed.
If you are holding a written hospital response against a pathway that has since closed, contact us. The response was accurate on its date; whether it still stands is a question for the issuing hospital.
Look up a treatment first
Scoping a case needs no patient information at all — we confirm which pathways are open for the indication before anyone gathers a record.
Look up a treatment firstMedAccess.care coordinates access and does not diagnose, treat, or decide eligibility. Every treatment has different evidence, regulatory status, risks, and eligibility requirements. Final treatment decisions are made by participating hospitals and their licensed physicians.