{"id":2073,"slug":"eu-smpc-frequency-bands","title":"EU Summary of Product Characteristics — defined frequency bands as a tier convention","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["tier-design-principles"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** The EU Summary of Product Characteristics convention uses defined frequency bands with verbal labels:\n\n- **Very common:** ≥1/10\n- **Common:** ≥1/100 to <1/10\n- **Uncommon:** ≥1/1,000 to <1/100\n- **Rare:** ≥1/10,000 to <1/1,000\n- **Very rare:** <1/10,000\n- **Not known:** cannot be estimated from the available data\n\nLow/Medium/High risk-matrix banding is likewise standard in safety and risk management.\n\n**Source:** EU SmPC convention.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Bands are a recognized, legitimate format for inherently imprecise quantities. BUT verbal band labels MUST be anchored, or they fail — the EU experience is itself a cautionary tale ([[knapp-2004-eu-verbal-misinterpret]]).","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-smb-widget-presenting-tiers-june-2026","title":"Research brief: SMB widget presentation layer — tiered results without overclaiming (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-four-tiers-with-visual-scale-and-drivers","title":"Rule — 4 tiers max, plain labels, visual scale, drivers shown","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"knapp-2004-eu-verbal-misinterpret","title":"Knapp et al. 2004 — EU verbal frequency labels cause dramatic overestimation of medical risk","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:03.414Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:03.414Z"}