This Terms of Use Agreement (this “Agreement”) is entered into by and between Health Tech Hatch, the parent company (Company) of this web blog, The Doctor Weighs In (Site) and “you,” the user of this web blog. Access to, use of and/or browsing of the Site is provided subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein. By accessing, using, and/or browsing the Site, you hereby agree to these terms and conditions. 

This agreement contains warranty disclaimers and other provisions that limit the Company’s liability to you. Please read these terms and conditions carefully and in their entirety, as using, accessing, and/or browsing the Site constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to be bound to each and every term and condition set forth herein, please exit the site immediately and do not use, access, and/or browse the Site.

By entering the Site, you acknowledge and agree that you have read and understand these terms and conditions, that the provisions, disclosures, and disclaimers set forth herein are fair and reasonable, and that your agreement to follow and be bound by these terms and conditions is voluntary and is not the result of fraud, duress, or undue influence exercised upon you by any person or entity.

Medical advice disclaimer

The Company provides the Site and the services, information, content, and/or data (collectively, “Information”) contained therein for informational purposes only. 

  1. The Company does not provide any medical advice on the Site. Information presented should not be so construed or used.
  2. Using, accessing, and/or browsing the Site and/or providing personal or medical information to the Company via the Site does not create a physician-patient relationship between you and the Company. Nothing contained in the Site is intended to create a physician-patient relationship, to replace the services of a licensed, trained physician or health professional or to be a substitute for the medical advice of a physician or trained health professional licensed in your state.
  3. You should not rely on anything contained in the Site, and you should consult a physician licensed in your state on all matters relating to your health.

You hereby agree that you shall not make any health or medical-related decision based in whole or in part on anything contained in the Site.

Financial, legal, and other advice disclaimers

You hereby acknowledge that nothing contained in the Site shall constitute financial, investment, legal, and/or other professional advice and that no professional relationship of any kind is created between you and the Company. You hereby agree that you shall not make any financial, investment, legal, and/or other decision based in whole or in part on anything contained in the Site.

Information disclaimer

The opinions expressed in the Site are not necessarily endorsed by, or the opinions of, the Site’s Editor and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the parent company, Health Tech Hatch, Inc. The Site is created and by the Company and final editorial approval for publication on the Site is not provided by any outside entities.

Any opinions on the Site are or have been rendered based on specific facts, under certain conditions, and subject to certain assumptions, and may not and should not be used or relied upon for any other purpose, including, but not limited to, for use in or in connection with any legal proceeding.

The Information may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct, timely, current, or up-to-date. Similar to any printed materials, the Information may become out-of-date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any Information on the Site; provided, however, that the Company may update the Information at any time without notice in the Company’s sole and absolute discretion. The Company reserves the right to make alterations or deletions to the Information at any time without notice.

License and site access

Company grants you a limited license to access and use this site.

You may not download (other than page caching) or modify it, or any portion of it, without the express written consent of Company.

This license does not include any:

  1. resale or commercial use of this site or its contents 
  2. any collection and use of any images, product listings, descriptions, or prices
  3. any derivative use of this site or its contents, or
  4. any use of data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools.

This site or any portion of this site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without express written consent of Company. You may not frame or utilize any framing techniques to enclose any image, trademark, logo, or other proprietary information of Company without our express written consent. You may not use any metatags or any other hidden text utilizing Company’s name or trademarks without the express written consent of Company. Any unauthorized use terminates the permission or license granted by Company.

Posting guidelines

The Site is open to the public. Therefore, consider your comments carefully and do not include anything in a comment that you would like to keep private. By uploading or otherwise making available any information to the Company in the form of user-generated comments or otherwise, you grant the Company the unlimited, perpetual right to distribute, display, publish, reproduce, reuse, and copy the information contained therein.

You are responsible for the content you post. You may not impersonate any other person through the Site. You may not post content that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, fraudulent, invasive of another person’s privacy rights, or is otherwise unlawful. You may not post content that infringes the intellectual property rights of any other person or entity. You may not post any content that contains any computer viruses or any other code designed to disrupt, damage, or limit the functioning of any computer software or hardware.

By submitting or posting content on the Site, you grant the Company and any company substantially under the control of Owner of the Company, the right to remove any content or comment that, in Company’s sole judgment, does not comply with the terms and conditions of this Agreement or is otherwise objectionable. You also grant the Company and any company substantially under the control of Owner of the Company the right to modify, adapt, and edit any content.

Comment policy

Comments to individual posts are encouraged. This is a moderated forum, meaning comments are reviewed before they are posted. Respectful comments that contribute to the topic at hand will generally be accepted.

The Site will not publish comments that, in the Company’s sole opinion, fall under the following categories:

  • snarky, trolling, off-topic, make the same point repeatedly, ranting at doctors, ranting at patients, excessively long, libelous, defamatory, abusive, harassing, threatening, profane, pornographic, offensive, false, misleading, or which otherwise violates or encourages others to violate the Owner’s sense of decorum and civility or any law, including intellectual property laws
  • “spam” (i.e., an attempt to advertise, solicit, or otherwise promote goods and services)
  • contain off-topic hyperlinks

The Company reserves the right to delete any comment, for any reason, at any time. The First Amendment gives you the right to express your opinions on your blog, not the Companys.

Comments that receive a certain number of flags from the readership are automatically deleted.

Third-party links and advertisements disclaimer

The Site may, from time to time, contain links to third-party websites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as a guarantee, warranty, or recommendation by the Owner of the services, information, content, and/or data on such third-party websites or as an indication of any affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement of such third-party websites. The Company is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites and does not make any representations or warranties regarding the privacy practices of, or the content or accuracy of materials on, such third-party websites. If you decide to access linked third-party websites, you do so at your own risk. Your use of third-party websites is subject to the terms of use for such sites.

The inclusion of third-party advertisements does not constitute an endorsement, guarantee, warranty, or recommendation of, and the author makes no representations and/or warranties about any product or service contained therein.

Electronic communications

When you visit our Website and send emails to us, you are communicating with us electronically. You consent to receive communications from us electronically. We will communicate with you by email or by posting notices on this site. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any requirement that such communications be in writing.

Disclosures

The Company receives financial payment from companies that sponsor certain posts, denoted as “sponsored posts.” Amazon links on the Site may be affiliate links. Ads and links to MyHiPPA Guide are affiliate links.

Disclaimer of all warranties  and limitation of liability

Users of the Site expressly agree that use of this Site is at the user’s sole risk. Neither Company, nor any of its officers, directors, employees, representatives or agents warrant that this site will be uninterrupted or error-free; nor do they warrant or make any representation regarding the accuracy, reliability or currency of any information, content, service, or merchandise provided through this site.

The Information made available on the Site is provided on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, warranties of title, noninfringement, and implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Owner makes no warranty, representation, or guaranty as to the content, sequence, accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of the Information, that the Information may be relied upon for any reason or that the Information will be uninterrupted or error-free or that any defects can or will be corrected.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Owner makes no representations or warranties with respect to any Information offered or provided within or through the Site regarding treatment of medical conditions, action, or application of medication.

Under no circumstances, as a result of your use of the Site, will the Owner be liable to you or to any other person for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, exemplary, consequential, or other damages under any legal theory, including, without limitation, tort, contract, strict liability, or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Owner shall have absolutely no liability in connection with the Site for:

  1. damages as a result of lost profits, loss of goodwill, work stoppage, failure of performance, delays in operation or transmission, nondelivery of information, deletions of files, mistakes, defects, errors, interruptions, or computer failure or malfunction;
  2. any loss or injury caused, in whole or in part, by the Owner’s actions, omissions, or negligence, or for contingencies beyond the Owner’s control, in procuring, compiling, or delivering the Information;
  3. any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in the Information regardless of how caused, or delays or interruptions in delivery of the Information; or
  4. any decision made or action taken or not taken in reliance upon the Information.
Reservation of intellectual property rights

The Site is protected by United States copyright laws. The Owner hereby reserves any and all intellectual property rights in the Site including but not limited to the Website itself, text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, videos, audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations, and software. All are copyrighted materials belonging exclusively to the Company or its content suppliers and are protected by United States and international copyright law. The Company owns and retains at all times all copyright rights in and to the artwork depicted on this Website. The Company enforces its copyright interest to the fullest extent permitted under the law and shall seek civil and criminal remedies where appropriate, including the remedies provided for under sections 501 et seq. of Title 17 of the U.S. Code. All rights are reserved.

The Doctor Weighs In and TDWI logos are the exclusive property and trademarks of the Company which reserves all rights, including all rights applicable under the U.S. and international trademark laws, including, without limitation Section 1125 of Title 15 of the U.S.Code (Lanham Act Sec. 43). All other trademarks not owned by the Company that appear on this Site are the property of their respective owners, who may or not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by the Company. The Company expressly disclaims any such affiliation, connection, or sponsorship with any of the companies and products referenced on the Site unless otherwise stated.

Age restriction

The Site is intended for persons eighteen (18) years or older. Persons under the age of eighteen (18) should not access, use, and/or browse the Site.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold the Company harmless from any claim or demand, including attorneys’ fees, made by any third party as a result of

  1. any content posted or made available by you on this Site
  2. any violation of law that occurs by you through the Site, and/or
  3. anything you do using the Site and/or the Information contained therein.
Invalidity

If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part in any jurisdiction, then that provision shall be deemed ineffective in such jurisdiction but shall have no effect on the enforceability of the remaining provisions.

Governing law, consent to jurisdiction and limitation on claims

This Agreement and your use of the Site, along with the Information contained therein, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without regard to conflict of laws principles, and you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of courts in the State of California. You further agree that any claims or causes of action arising out of or related to this Agreement and the Site, along with the Information contained therein, shall be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose, or such claim or cause of action shall be forever barred.

Entire agreement

You hereby acknowledge that this Agreement represents the entire understanding between you and the Company concerning your use of the Site and the Information contained therein.

Modification

The Company may, in the Company’s sole and absolute discretion, modify the terms and conditions of this Agreement in whole or in part at any time for any reason without any notice to you, whether prior or otherwise. Such modified terms and conditions shall supersede these terms and conditions and shall become binding when published online on the Site.

Waiver

The Company’s failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Agreement shall not be deemed to be a waiver of such right or provision.

The site and the information contained therein is made available by the owner for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice. By accessing the site, you understand and acknowledge that there is no physician-patient relationship between you and the author. You further acknowledge your understanding that the site should not be used as a substitute for competent medical advice from a licensed physician in your state.

(Document updated 7/27/19)