User Agreement

The following terms constitute an agreement between you and PatientsLikeMe, Inc. (“PatientsLikeMe”), the operator of www.patientslikeme.com (the “Site”). This agreement governs your use of the Site, both as a casual visitor and a registered member as described below.

By accessing or using the Site, you agree to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. To the extent you register on the Site as a member, then in addition to the terms that are applicable to all users of the Site, the terms that apply only to members shall apply to you too.

Membership Eligibility

To become a member and access the area on this Site reserved for members (the “Member Area”), PatientsLikeMe requires that you are either a (a) diagnosed patient of the particular community you are joining or a parent or legal guardian acting for such a patient who is under 18 years of age or incapacitated, (b) caregiver for a patient eligible to join such community, (c) health care professional (e.g. doctor, nurse, health researcher, etc.), (d) guest with legitimate, non-commercial reasons to participate in the community and who agrees to respect the privacy and preserve the dignity of all community participants or (e) guest as authorized by a PatientsLikeMe member or employee.

Children under the age of 13 are prohibited from registering as members. By registering as a member you represent that you are age 13 or older.

This Site Does Not Provide Medical Advice

All of the material provided on the Site, such as text, treatments, dosages, outcomes, charts, patient profiles, graphics, photographs, images, advice, messages, forum postings, and any other material provided on the Site are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Site.

If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. PatientsLikeMe does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned on the Site. Reliance on any information provided by PatientsLikeMe, by persons appearing on the Site at the invitation of PatientsLikeMe, or by other members is solely at your own risk.

Acceptable and Lawful Use of Site by Members

Members shall not post or upload any information or other content on the Site that (a) is false, inaccurate or misleading; (b) is obscene or indecent; (c) infringes any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy of any party; or (d) is defamatory, libelous, threatening, abusive, hateful, or contains pornography. Members shall not interfere with other members’ use and enjoyment of the Site (for example, by harassing, threatening, soliciting, overly promoting personal interests, or stalking another participant of a chat room, forum, seminar, or threaded message, including the use of expressions of bigotry, racism, hatred, or profanity). Members may not use the Site to conduct any activity that is illegal or violates the rights of others, provide instructional information about illegal activities, or promote physical harm or injury against any group or individual.

All members represent and warrant that the information they provided when registering as a member, and all information that they subsequently provide regarding themselves and their membership, is true and accurate and not misleading.

Nonprofit Members

All Nonprofit Members may post event information and highlight services available to other members on their Nonprofit Member profiles. Each Nonprofit Member will be provided with a unique hyperlink to a member registration webpage on the Site (the “Nonprofit Registration Link”) that the Nonprofit Member can distribute to individuals with his/her communities who are eligible for membership (as described above under “Membership Eligibility”).

While Nonprofit Members may promote their own events, initiatives, and services to other members through the means described above, they may not directly solicit donations or volunteer services. For example, Nonprofit Members may, through posting on their profile and through private messages to members subscribed to their profile, promote and notify members of a fundraising event or volunteer initiative, including information regarding ticket prices to attend such an event or the scope of a volunteer initiative. However, it is not permitted to expressly ask members through use of the Site to purchase tickets to such an event or to donate money, property, or services to the Nonprofit Member or any other party.

In addition, Nonprofit Members may not create new forum posts to advertise or promote their services, events, or initiatives. Nonprofit Members can use private messages to contact members who are subscribed to their profiles; however, they may not private message members who have not subscribed to their profiles.

For purposes of clarity, references to “members” in these Terms and Conditions of Use include Nonprofit Members and, except as expressly stated herein, the same restrictions and obligations under these Terms and Conditions of Use that apply to members also apply to Nonprofit Members.

 

Members Referred by a Nonprofit Member

If you registered as a member and agreed to these Terms and Conditions of Use through use of a Nonprofit Registration Link, then the applicable Nonprofit Member (the “Referring Nonprofit”) will be recognized by PatientsLikeMe as having referred you to the Site. You will automatically be subscribed to the Referring Nonprofit’s member profile and user postings (until such time as you affirmatively elect to unsubscribe). Likewise, the Referring Nonprofit will automatically be subscribed to your profile and user postings. The Referring Nonprofit will be able to send private messages to you as long as you remain subscribed to the Referring Nonprofit’s member profile and postings.

No Interference with Operation of Site

You may not use any robot, spider, scraper, or other automated means to access the Site or content or services provided on the Site for any purposes. You may not post content on the Site that contains any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, spiders, or other computer programming routines that are intended to damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, data or personal information. You shall not attempt to make the Site unavailable through denial-of-service attacks or similar means. You shall not use contact information provided by members, or collect information about our members, to facilitate the sending of unsolicited bulk communications such as SPAM or SPIM or allow others use of your membership account to take such actions.

Site for Non-Commercial Use Only

The Site content, including the Member Area and the content and information contained in the Member Area, is for the personal use of individual members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors. Organizations, companies, and/or businesses may not become members and should not use the Site without express consent from PatientsLikeMe. Members of PatientsLikeMe with individual commercial interests may not solicit or overtl