How to read a 99% success rate

On its own website, checked September 2026, FAI states a “99% success rate after completing TIP” and a “less than 1% reaction rate for the duration of TIP.” It also publishes 56,000+ food challenges and introductions completed annually, 130+ allergens assessed, and a typical program duration of 2.5 to 4 years for ages 15 months to 50 years. These are the clinic’s own figures, in its own words, and the phrase “after completing” is the part that deserves the most attention.

It is a published claim, not a fabrication, but it measures completers rather than starters. A success rate conditioned on finishing a 2.5-to-4-year, five-figure program excludes everyone who stopped along the way, and FAI does not publish its completion rate. Public threads include long-time observers who say many families drop out and that attrition data is not released; one documented dropout cause is developing eosinophilic esophagitis during dairy treatment, a known risk of oral immunotherapy generally. Without a starters-to-completers ratio, “99% of completers succeed” and “a much lower share of starters succeed” can both be true at the same time.

A 2021 Undark investigation quoted several academic allergists reacting with open disbelief — Hugh Windom said “Come on, there’s no way,” and Philippe Bégin called it “just ridiculous” — with Edwin Kim, Brian Schroer, and Matt Bell also quoted as skeptics. The same reporting found the main supporting study was a 51-patient retrospective with no control group, published in an open-access journal after reportedly being declined by more than six larger journals. That reporting is now five years old, so a fair follow-up is to ask the clinic directly what peer-reviewed data it has published since.

A July 2021 Change.org petition titled “Increase transparency to better serve patients,” signed by 312 people, asked FAI to publish its safety and outcome data, disclose IRB oversight, and disclose conflicts of interest — noting that the founder owns affiliated lab and product entities whose services many TIP patients are required to use. It also asked for moderation changes in the program’s roughly 4,000-member Facebook group. A petition is a set of requests and allegations, not findings, but the specific ask — publish the data — is the same one this page makes of every provider.

No. Graduated-exposure immunotherapy is the only disease-modifying treatment for allergies, with 100+ years of clinical use, and thousands of families publicly credit TIP with exactly the outcomes it advertises — parents describe children eating whole eggs, milk, and 16 peanuts, and adults report five years of remission. The open question is not whether patients succeed there; it is whether the true success rate across everyone who starts justifies the number on the homepage. Those are different claims, and the difference is the whole point of this page.

Latitude, the other leading in-person food allergy clinic, publishes 98% desensitization for patients under 4 and 94% for all ages, sourced to internal data from 2026, with an average of about 8.4 months of active treatment to maintenance. An AAAAI 2025 abstract with Weill Cornell reported that roughly 5% of doses among 1,000+ OIT patients caused any reaction, the overwhelming majority mild. Both clinics’ headline rates are self-reported rather than independently verified, but they measure different things over very different timeframes — 8.4 months to OIT maintenance versus 2.5 to 4 years to “food freedom” — so the numbers are not directly comparable. Our [side-by-side of the published figures](/learn/food-allergy-clinics-compared) lays this out in full.

FAI’s published subscription is $979/month for ages 18–25 and $1,079/month for ages 26–50 with a 6-month minimum, and its own cost page estimates roughly $11,748 for a first year on the cash path versus about $15,425 through insurance. Patient reports vary: one family described around $15,000 all-in for year one and $12,000 for year two, another budgeted approximately $4,500 per year in guaranteed costs plus labs and co-pays, and several report an annual maintenance fee of about $4,000 after reaching remission that they say was not disclosed upfront. More than half of patients travel from outside California, typically every 8 to 12 weeks, which adds flights and lodging. The full breakdown is on our [FAI cost page](/learn/food-allergy-institute-cost).

Ask the same three questions of Curex and here is what you get. Who verified it: the treatment Curex prescribes — peanut SLIT under the La Crosse Method — has NIH-funded, peer-reviewed trials at UNC. 67% of children on 2 mg for up to five years tolerated 750 mg or more of peanut protein and 25% passed a 5,000 mg challenge (PMID 31493887); on 4 mg for 48 months, 70% passed 800 mg and 36% the full 5,000 mg (PMID 36828080); toddlers randomized at ages 1–4 reached a median 4,443 mg after three years against 143 mg on placebo, 60% passing versus none (PMID 37815782). The denominator: 48, 54 and 50 children respectively, with 87% completing the 48-month study, and no dose in any of them needing epinephrine. What counts as success: tolerated dose at a supervised food challenge, the standard trial endpoint. Those are trials of the treatment, not of Curex’s own patients; Curex’s program-level claims — gentler dosing, more patients finishing, no confirmed food-program savings amount — are program-design arguments and internal figures, and you should question them exactly as hard as anyone’s 99%. Licensing and physician credentials are at [is Curex legit](/learn/is-curex-legit). Curex food-plan rates, client commercial terms as of 2026-10-12: Food Allergy Drops: $199/month or $1,990/year. Unlimited number of foods, as clinically prescribed; plus insurance copay for each video consultation. Environmental + Food Allergy Drops: $259/month or $2,590/year. Two treatment sets, with unlimited number of allergens as clinically prescribed; plus insurance copay for each video consultation. Food Drops Self-Pay Plan: $249/month or $2,490/year. Food allergy drops; consultations included without a consultation copay. Environmental + Food Drops Self-Pay Plan: $299/month or $2,990/year. Environmental and food allergy drops; consultations included without a consultation copay. For the listed allergy plans, the annual subscription costs the equivalent of 10 monthly payments instead of 12: two months of subscription fees saved, or 16.7% compared with paying monthly for a year. This is subscription savings, not a discount on testing, copays or your total medical bill. Other products have their own payment terms; GLP-1 annual rates are shown separately. Treatment fees are self-pay. Insurance benefits are verified during onboarding. Each video consultation has a plan-dependent specialist copay, normally $35, which can be lower or higher depending on your plan. Deductibles and coinsurance may also affect your responsibility. The subscription covers compounded allergy drops and non-insured clinic services, including shipping, asynchronous consultations and care management. Insurance-category subscriptions add a copay for each video consultation. The environmental, food and combined self-pay drops plans and the environmental allergy shots plan include consultations without a consultation copay. Certain self-collection tests are not insurance-covered and are priced separately. Allergy IgE, celiac and Alpha-Gal tests may be covered by insurance, depending on your plan. IgG food sensitivity testing is not covered by insurance; the laboratory bills the patient directly. Verify coverage and the laboratory estimate before ordering. See /learn/curex-pricing and confirm eligibility, testing costs and a personalized written quote.