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Terms of use

PlainScript explains what a medicine is and what its published guidance says. It does not know anything about you, and it cannot tell you what to do. Your prescriber, your pharmacist and the leaflet in the box are always the authority.

Last updated 1 August 2026.

These terms apply when you use the PlainScript app or this website. By using either, you accept them. They are provided by Kamiar Azvine, Suite RA01, 195-197 Wood Street, London, E17 3NU, contactable at kamiarazvine@plainscript.co.uk.

What PlainScript is for

PlainScript identifies a medicine from its packaging and explains, in plain English, what it is for, how it is usually taken, what to do about a missed dose, what to look out for, and what published clinical guidance recommends. Every claim is traceable to a named source.

It is a way to understand information that already exists. It is a reference book that can read a barcode.

What it is not

PlainScript is not medical advice and must not be used as a substitute for it. It does not know your diagnosis, your other conditions, your allergies, your kidney or liver function, your pregnancy status, your age, or your weight. Everything it shows is general information about a product, not guidance about you.

Specifically, it does not:

  • diagnose anything, or tell you what is wrong with you
  • tell you to start, stop, change or skip a medicine
  • calculate or recommend a dose
  • tell you that a combination of medicines is safe. Where it flags a well-documented interaction, it is raising a question to ask a pharmacist, not answering one. Silence is not reassurance: an interaction that is not flagged has not been ruled out
  • replace the patient information leaflet that came with your pack

Not a medical device. PlainScript is not intended for, and must not be used for, diagnosis, monitoring, prediction, prognosis or treatment decisions for any individual. It is not a regulated medical device and has not been assessed as one.

Not for clinical or professional use. It is written for the person taking the medicine. It is not a clinical reference, and must not be relied on by healthcare professionals in the course of their work, nor used to make decisions about anyone else's treatment.

If something is wrong

Do not use PlainScript in an emergency, and do not delay getting help in order to look something up. If you think you or someone else is having a medical emergency, or may have taken too much of a medicine, call 999. For urgent advice that is not an emergency, call 111. If you think a medicine has caused a side effect, report it through the MHRA's Yellow Card scheme.

The label and the leaflet come first

Where anything in PlainScript differs from the label on your pack, the leaflet inside it, or what your prescriber or pharmacist told you, they are right and the app is wrong. Your prescription may deliberately differ from the usual dose. Follow the instructions you were given, and ask if you are unsure.

The United Kingdom only

PlainScript describes UK medicines using UK sources, and some of the clinical guidance it shows is licensed for use in the UK only. Product names, strengths, formulations and advice differ between countries, so the information may be actively wrong elsewhere. It is offered for use in the UK, and you should not rely on it outside it.

Accuracy, and the limits of it

PlainScript takes real care with its sources, and every statement on a result can be traced to one. That is not the same as a guarantee, and the honest position is this:

  • Information ages. Guidance is updated, licences change, and safety advice is issued. A result reflects our sources as they were when the app last read them, and not necessarily as they are today.
  • Identification can be wrong. Barcodes are reused, packaging is redesigned, and reading text from a photograph is imperfect. Always check that the product named on screen is the product in your hand before reading any further.
  • Nothing here is complete. The side effects and interactions shown are the common and notable ones, not all of them. The full lists are in your leaflet and in the sources we link to.
  • Plain English involves choices. Where we summarise a source in our own words, the summary is labelled as ours and the original is quoted or linked. If the two ever seem to differ, the original governs.

Using the app properly

You agree not to:

  • rely on PlainScript to make a decision that should involve a healthcare professional
  • use it to advise, treat or make decisions about another person
  • copy, scrape, bulk download or redistribute its content, or build a product on top of it. Much of what it shows is licensed to us on terms that do not allow us to pass those rights on
  • present its content as your own, as a clinical reference, or as coming from the NHS or NICE
  • attempt to disrupt the service, or access it other than through the app and this site

Who owns what

The app, this site, and the plain-English explanations in them are our copyright. Third-party material is used under its own licence and remains the property of whoever published it: NHS website content under the Open Government Licence, NICE guidance under the NICE UK Open Content Licence, and others besides. What we use and what each licence requires is set out on the sources page. Nothing in these terms grants you a licence to reuse third-party content.

PlainScript is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the NHS, NICE, the MHRA, or any manufacturer. NICE and the NHS are not responsible for our wording.

Availability and changes

PlainScript is provided free of charge and without any commitment to keep it available. It needs an internet connection to look up a medicine, though results you have already seen remain readable for a short time offline. We may change, suspend or withdraw features, or the whole service, at any time. We will not delete anything you have saved on your own phone.

Responsibility for loss

We do not exclude or limit our liability in any way that the law does not allow. In particular, nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. Your statutory rights as a consumer are unaffected.

Beyond that: PlainScript is supplied as it is, for information only, and we are not responsible for a decision you take about your health. We are not liable for loss that was not a foreseeable result of our providing the service, nor for loss arising because you used the app for something these terms say it is not for, or ignored the label, the leaflet, or professional advice.

If we have got something wrong, please tell us. Correcting it matters more to us than this clause does.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you may also bring proceedings in your own courts.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows when they last changed, and material changes will be flagged in the app rather than made quietly.

Contact

Email kamiarazvine@plainscript.co.uk. Questions about your own medicines belong with your pharmacist or GP, who can see your record and give you an answer that fits you.