WHAT INDEPENDENT MEANS.
A word every men's health site uses. Here is what it has to mean to be true.
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Independent is easy to say. It is true only if the person deciding has nothing to gain from deciding one way rather than the other. So here is the test, applied to Frankly.
The GP is not employed by Frankly. They work from their own practice and review cases for Frankly alongside their own work. The GP is paid per review, and the fee is the same whether they prescribe, ask for a blood test first, refer you to your own GP, or advise against treatment. Nobody at Frankly sees the medical answers or has a say in the decision.
Frankly does not sell medicines. If the GP prescribes, the pharmacy sets the price and you pay the pharmacy. Frankly earns the programme fee and nothing on the medication, so Frankly has no reason to want a yes.
And the GP can say no. Not as a formality: a GP who never says no is not doing the job, and Frankly keeps count of how often the answer is no. If that number were zero, you should not trust the word independent anywhere on this site.
An independent GP decides. A licensed pharmacy dispenses. Frankly organises and follows up.