Just the Inserts (www.justtheinserts.com)

Just the Inserts is an independent educational platform designed to help individuals better understand the contents of medical product information sheets—known as inserts—for vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. The site’s stated mission is to promote transparency, informed consent, and patient autonomy by providing direct access to the same data supplied by manufacturers and government agencies, presented in plain language for everyday readers.

The platform was founded by a parent who experienced a negative reaction in their child following a pharmaceutical product and subsequently discovered how inaccessible and complex official documentation could be. Motivated by this, the founder created a space where users could easily find, read, and interpret the original inserts for themselves rather than relying solely on medical summaries or promotional materials.

Key Features

  1. Insert Search & Archive
    The website provides a searchable library of drug and vaccine inserts. Users can look up ingredients, side effects, contraindications, and manufacturer warnings exactly as they appear on the official documentation.

  2. Educational Course
    A free self-paced course, How to Read an Insert, teaches visitors how to interpret the technical sections of medical product inserts. It walks users through how to recognise warnings, dosage information, and clinical data references.

  3. Vaccine Information Section
    The vaccine section compiles inserts for commonly used vaccines and introduces a concept called the Vaccine Perspective Spectrum™, which aims to broaden the discussion beyond “pro-” or “anti-” vaccination labels. The intention is to encourage nuanced, evidence-based conversation about risks and benefits.

  4. Publications and Resources
    The platform offers supplementary materials such as Well Considered: A Handbook for Making Informed Medical Decisions and an accompanying podcast and newsletter. It also includes a provider directory featuring practitioners who value informed consent.

  5. Ethical and Educational Approach
    Just the Inserts emphasises the principles of transparency, accessibility, and personal responsibility. The site maintains that it does not offer medical advice but provides educational resources for individuals to understand pharmaceutical information independently. Its team states openly that they hold biases toward greater transparency and medical freedom, preferring to make those biases explicit rather than hidden.

  6. Community and Advocacy
    The wider aim of the project is to create a community of people who are better informed, confident in interpreting medical data, and empowered to discuss health decisions with professionals on equal terms. It positions informed consent as the cornerstone of ethical medicine and public trust.

Overview

Just the Inserts bridges the gap between dense scientific language and the everyday individual’s need for clear information. It promotes the view that genuine consent can only exist when people understand exactly what they are consenting to, using official documents rather than media interpretations or government summaries.

While critics may question whether the tone of the platform leans toward medical scepticism, supporters argue that it simply restores balance in a system where patient understanding is often secondary to compliance. The platform does not claim to replace professional advice but to enable citizens to ask better questions of their healthcare providers.

Key Summary Takeaways

  • Purpose: To make medical product inserts accessible and understandable to the public.
  • Mission: Promote transparency, informed consent, and patient autonomy.
  • Core Offerings: Searchable insert database, free educational course, publications, and provider directory.
  • Ethical Stance: Encourages individual responsibility in health choices; critical of one-sided or politically driven narratives.
  • Audience: Individuals seeking to understand vaccine and pharmaceutical risks directly from official sources.
  • Tone: Educational, sceptical of corporate and governmental gatekeeping, and rooted in advocacy for medical freedom.