Why does OpenEvidence say it is not available in my location?

OpenEvidence withdrew from the European Union and the United Kingdom on 28 April 2026 and blocks traffic from those countries. The company cited regulatory uncertainty about AI systems in the EU and UK, including the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. Anyone connecting from an EU member state or the UK is redirected to an 'unavailable' page regardless of their account status.

Is OpenEvidence available in the UK?

No. The withdrawal covered the United Kingdom as well as the EU, and UK clinicians see the same block as EU clinicians. UK-oriented alternatives include iatroX and CliniAtlas, which retrieves NICE guidance for UK questions.

Is OpenEvidence available in Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, or Croatia?

No. Every EU member state is covered by the block, so the answer is the same in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, and the other member states. The company has not published a position on Switzerland, Norway, or other non-EU European countries; full access there would still require US NPI verification.

Can I use OpenEvidence with a VPN from Europe?

Loading a website through a VPN does not establish eligibility to use the service or resolve professional verification, geographic restrictions, or your institution's data requirements. Check the provider's current access rules instead of treating a VPN as an approved workaround.

When will OpenEvidence come back to Europe?

As of September 2026 the company had announced no return date. Its withdrawal statement tied the decision to the regulatory environment, which is not expected to change quickly. Plan on a replacement rather than waiting.

What is the closest free replacement for European doctors?

Two options to assess are CliniAtlas and Vera Health. Both describe free access for verified clinicians in Europe. CliniAtlas combines EU application hosting and storage with AI processing that may occur outside the EU; Vera Health describes US hosting. Compare sources, access, and privacy terms using the linked pages.

Guide, updated September 2026

OpenEvidence not available in your location? Here is what to do

If you are reading this from an EU member state or the UK, the message is not a glitch and it is not about your account. OpenEvidence withdrew from both markets on 28 April 2026 and blocks traffic from them. This page explains what happened, answers the VPN question honestly, and gets you to a working replacement in about ten minutes.

What the message means

OpenEvidence’s withdrawal affected geographic access independently of professional verification. The company said it was leaving the EU and UK because of regulatory uncertainty about AI systems, naming the EU Artificial Intelligence Act among the rules involved, and it now returns an “unavailable” page to connections from those countries. A commentary in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, linked below, describes the decision and its consequences for clinicians.

Will it come back?

We found no announced return date in the sources checked in September 2026. Check the provider for current availability. We keep the OpenEvidence EU comparison updated and will note any change there.

The VPN question

A VPN might load the page. It does not establish eligibility or resolve professional verification and regional access rules. For work use, check the provider’s current terms, supported locations, and your institution’s data requirements. Do not assume a working connection means the service is approved for your setting.

What to check in a replacement

The gap OpenEvidence left is a cited answer engine that accepts European clinicians. Five questions separate the candidates:

Can you sign up with your own credentials?: OpenEvidence verified through the US NPI. A replacement should accept a European licence, registration number, or institutional email, and student status where relevant.
Where are your questions processed?: A clinical question can contain personal data if it describes an identifiable person. Ask general questions without patient identifiers, and check processing locations and your institution's requirements in the privacy policy.
Does it read the sources that apply to you?: EMA product information, ESC and other European society guidelines, NICE for the UK, and Europe PMC alongside PubMed. A US-only corpus answers from FDA labels and US guidelines.
Can you open the source behind every claim?: Retrieved claims should link to inspectable sources with study types. A useful answer may also include general knowledge, but it should clearly distinguish that from retrieved support.
What does the vendor say it is for?: Literature search and evidence review is one thing; patient-specific decision support is another and may fall under the Medical Device Regulation. Ask for the intended-use statement.

Tools that work from Europe today

Tool	In one line	Comparison
CliniAtlas	EU-hosted, free for verified clinicians and students, PubMed and Europe PMC plus EMA labels and European guidelines, study type on every citation.	Read
Vera Health	US-hosted, free for verified clinicians and trainees worldwide, large literature corpus with evidence grading, calculators, and differential-diagnosis tools.	Read
DR. INFO, iatroX, EvidenceMD	European or UK-oriented clinical answer tools with different verification, hosting, and source choices; all listed in the ranked guide.	Read
Consensus and Perplexity	General research and answer engines. Useful for scanning papers or drafting, weaker on regulatory sources and per-claim grading.	Read

The full ranked list, with what each tool does well and where it falls short, is in the guide to eight OpenEvidence alternatives for European clinicians. CliniAtlas is our product and appears in that list with the same scrutiny as the rest.

Move your workflow in ten minutes

Write down the last five questions you asked OpenEvidence. Most clinicians find they fall into three types: a drug question, a guideline question, and a “what did that trial show” question.
Ask them again in a candidate tool and open the citation behind each answer. If a claim is presented as retrieved evidence, its source should support it. Check whether general-knowledge statements and unresolved gaps are clearly labelled.
For drug questions in the EU, check the answer against the EMA SmPC. For UK questions, check against NICE. A tool that retrieves those documents itself saves the step.
Note where your questions are processed and, if your institution needs it, file the privacy policy with your data-protection officer before you rely on the tool at work.

Try it with a real question. The link below opens CliniAtlas with an evidence question already typed in. Sign-up takes a minute with a European professional or student credential; retrieved evidence arrives with source links and the study type next to each source.

Frequently asked questions

Why does OpenEvidence say it is not available in my location?: OpenEvidence withdrew from the European Union and the United Kingdom on 28 April 2026 and blocks traffic from those countries. The company cited regulatory uncertainty about AI systems in the EU and UK, including the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. Anyone connecting from an EU member state or the UK is redirected to an 'unavailable' page regardless of their account status.
Is OpenEvidence available in the UK?: No. The withdrawal covered the United Kingdom as well as the EU, and UK clinicians see the same block as EU clinicians. UK-oriented alternatives include iatroX and CliniAtlas, which retrieves NICE guidance for UK questions.
Is OpenEvidence available in Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, or Croatia?: No. Every EU member state is covered by the block, so the answer is the same in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, and the other member states. The company has not published a position on Switzerland, Norway, or other non-EU European countries; full access there would still require US NPI verification.
Can I use OpenEvidence with a VPN from Europe?: Loading a website through a VPN does not establish eligibility to use the service or resolve professional verification, geographic restrictions, or your institution's data requirements. Check the provider's current access rules instead of treating a VPN as an approved workaround.
When will OpenEvidence come back to Europe?: As of September 2026 the company had announced no return date. Its withdrawal statement tied the decision to the regulatory environment, which is not expected to change quickly. Plan on a replacement rather than waiting.
What is the closest free replacement for European doctors?: Two options to assess are CliniAtlas and Vera Health. Both describe free access for verified clinicians in Europe. CliniAtlas combines EU application hosting and storage with AI processing that may occur outside the EU; Vera Health describes US hosting. Compare sources, access, and privacy terms using the linked pages.

Ask CliniAtlas this question Compare all 8 alternatives

Last updated 15 September 2026. OpenEvidence details reflect public statements and may change; corrections are welcome at hello@discensmachina.com. CliniAtlas is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenEvidence.