Some of the links in the pages and posts of this website are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.  Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I do not guarantee the effectiveness or warranty the product you are purchasing.  Use common sense with ice/heating products to avoid skin burns or frostbite.  If you have a heart condition check with your doctor before exercising.  If you are on multiple medications check with your doctor before starting any supplements for pain relief.

All information is modified to protect patient confidentiality in strict compliance with HIPAA.  Case examples do not follow real cases.

I reserve the right to disregard any direct messages, emails, or personal requests.  If you need personal assistance, direct contact with your medical office is needed.

This site is accessed by the public.  Consider your comments carefully.  Do not include any information that you deem as personal or private.  You are responsible for the content you post.

External hyperlinks to external websites do not constitute an endorsement.  I do not verify, endorse, or take responsibility for the accuracy, currency, completeness, or quality of the content contained in these sites.  Every post is linked to its source of information, dated and referenced. Use at your own risk.

Some of the content on this website is third party content.  That means it was prepared by someone else and we post it on our site(s) as a reference for you.  Please keep in mind, any third party content on our sites is for you to reference. It does not necessarily reflect my opinion, nor should it be thought of as a treatment recommendation.  My own posts can not be thought of as treatment recommendations.  Treatment recommendations and scientific discoveries change our thoughts on causation and treatment plans. Therefore some of the posts may contain information which is outdated.  Feel free to print out anything on this site and bring it in with you so we can discuss what my formal thoughts are!  Print it out to discuss with your own physician as well.  My content can not be reproduced for legal proceedings.

Under no circumstances will the author, Howard Luks, MD or “I”, or My employer be liable to you for any direct or indirect damages arising in connection with use of this site, or the links you follow to outside websites.   Posts/links are not a substitute for personalized medical advice from your provider.  Opting to participate with this site by following/”liking”/”friending”/subscribing may result in your user identity being able to be viewed by other participating site members.  Therefore, you agree your participation will NOT be confidential.

The purpose of this account/blog/website is for medical education only.  It is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice.  Information posted should not be construed as personal medical advice.  Posts are not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure disease.  The goal is to inform the audience with interesting medical and community information for strictly educational/entertainment purposes only.  In addition, this site is meant to support the relationship that may exist between the visitor and his/her physician. Postings are not meant to be the only source of medical decision-making for your family. By accessing this site, you acknowledge that there is no physician-patient relationship extended between you and me.

All posts (excepting 3rd party content) are the opinion of this author and not of his employer/partners. All posts are based on scientific facts and subject to certain assumptions and should not be relied upon for any other purpose.  Similar to printed materials, the information posted may become out-of-date.  There is no obligation to update posts, although I may at any time without notice.  I cannot be held responsible for any omissions in the posts.

BY POSTING/”LIKING”/FOLLOWING/OPTING-IN Howard Luks MD SOCIAL MEDIA SITES YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS:

Howard J Luks, MD (HJL) has opened public pages on Social Media Sites for viewing content and/or videos and posting comments regarding HJL. These social media sites include but are not limited to various blogs, bulletin boards, networks, multi-media and news media sites or other user generated content sites (“Social Media Sites”). By accessing, viewing and/or posting any content related directly or indirectly to HJL on any Social Media Site on the internet, you accept, without limitation or qualification, the following terms of use.

If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, you may not view or post any content related to HJL to any Social Media Site on the internet. Your use of Social Media Sites is acceptance of this Policy and has the same effect as if you had actually physically signed an agreement.

1. You must be at least 18 years old to post any content on any Social Media Site.

2. By leaving comments, posting images, reviews, discussions, videos, stories, or other personal information on HJL’s Social Media Sites, you are agreeing to have your image and/or identity published online.  You acknowledge that this information is public domain and may be viewed by anyone.  Should you have concerns regarding your privacy, it is advised that you not post any personal information to the Social Media Sites of HJL. You are prohibited from using the Social Media Site to provide medical advice or medical commentary or to use the Social Media Site to make, recommend or increase referrals to physicians who are not employed by HJL.

3. As a guest posting content to any Social Media Site on the internet, you agree that you will not: violate any local, state, federal and international laws and regulations, including but not limited to copyright and intellectual property rights laws regarding any content that you send or receive via this Policy; transmit any material (by uploading, posting, email or otherwise) that is unlawful, disruptive, threatening, profane, abusive, harassing, embarrassing, tortuous, defamatory, obscene, libelous, or is an invasion of another’s privacy, is hateful or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable as solely determined in HJL discretion; impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; transmit any material (by uploading, posting, email or otherwise) that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships; transmit any material (by uploading, posting, email or otherwise) that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party; transmit (by uploading, posting, email or otherwise) any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising (including advertising of non-HJL services or products), promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes” or any other form of solicitation; transmit any material (by uploading, posting, email or otherwise) that contains software viruses, worms, disabling code, or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; harass another; or collect or store, or attempt to collect or store, personal data about third parties without their knowledge or consent; or to share confidential pricing information of any party.

4. HJL reserves the right to monitor, prohibit, restrict, block, suspend, terminate, delete, or discontinue your access to any Social Media Site, at any time, without notice and for any reason and in its sole discretion. HJL may remove, delete, block, filter or restrict by any other means any materials in UOPCs sole discretion. You understand and agree that HJL may disclose your communications and activities on social media sites of HJL in response to lawful requests by governmental authorities, including Patriot Act requests, judicial orders, warrants or subpoenas, or for the protection of HJL rights. You agree that in the event that HJL exercises any of its rights hereunder for any reason, HJL will have no liability to you.

5. By posting any content on any Social Media Site, you grant to HJL the irrevocable right to reproduce, distribute, publish, and display such content and the right to create derivative works from your content, edit or modify such content and use such content for any HJL purpose.

6. You shall defend, indemnify, and hold HJL and its corporate affiliates and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, successors and assigns harmless from and against, and shall promptly reimburse them for, any and all losses, claims, damages, settlements, costs, and liabilities of any nature whatsoever (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) to which any of them may become subject arising out of, based upon, as a result of, or in any way connected with, your posting of any content to a Social Media Site, any third party claims of infringement or any breach of this Policy.

7. YOU EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY RELATED TO THE SECURITY, PRIVACY, AND CONFIDENTIALITY RISKS INHERENT IN SENDING ANY CONTENT OVER THE INTERNET. By its very nature, a website AND THE INTERNET cannot be absolutely protected against intentional or malicious intrusion attempts. HJL/UOPC does not control the THIRD PARTY SITES AND THE Internet over which you may choose to send confidential personal or health information OR OTHER CONTENT and, therefore, HJL/UOPC DOES NOT WARRANT ANY SAFEGUARD AGAINST ANY such interceptions or compromises to your information. When posting any content on an internet site, you should think carefully about your own privacy in disclosing detailed or private information about yourself and your family. FURTHERMORE, HJL DOES NOT ENDORSE ANY PRODUCT, SERVICE, VIEWS OR CONTENT DISPLAYED ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA SITE.

8. You agree that any claim or dispute relating to your posting of any content on a Social Media Site on the internet shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to its conflict of law’s provisions and you agree to be bound and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the local, state or federal courts located in White Plains,NY.

9. You may not provide any content to a Social Media Site that contains any product or service endorsements or any content that may be construed as political lobbying, solicitations or contributions or use the Social Media Site to link to any sites or political candidates or parties or use the Social Media Site to discuss political campaigns, issues or for taking a position on any legislation or law.

10. THIS POLICY MAY BE UPDATED AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, AND EACH TIME A USER ACCESSES A SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE, THE NEW POLICY WILL GOVERN, USAGE, EFFECTIVE UPON POSTING. To remain in compliance, HJL/UOPC suggests that you review the Policy, as well as the other website policies, at regular intervals. By continuing to post any content after such new terms are posted, you accept and agree to any and all such modifications to this Policy.

I am not (or may not be) your doctor. Please see your personal doctor for any medical advice.

Contact with me in any form is under the explicit understanding that no doctor-patient relationship exists and none will be formed as a result of such contact.

A blog post or Twitter status update is not a replacement for a doctor visit in person. If you have a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1 or the emergency services system in your location.

My blog posts and Twitter status updates are not medical, legal, ethical, moral, political, or any other form of advice, suggestion, or recommendation.

My opinions are fluid and I reserve the right to change my position as my knowledge and experiences dictate.

I reserve the right to alter or delete any of my blog posts for any reason.

I reserve the right to delete any comments posted on my various social media profiles or blog for any reason.

I reserve the right to delete any Twitter status updates for any reason. Most common reasons include but are not limited to old replies, non-medical related replies, incorrect or unverified articles/links, etc.

I reserve the right to ignore any contact attempted through any means (Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Email, IM, etc). Most common reasons include but are not limited to unwanted marketing, SPAM, hostile/aggressive/annoying behavior, unfamiliarity or lack of personal/professional relationship, etc.

Following, contacting, or “friending” people on any social media sites, blogs, etc. is not an endorsement by me of the message, opinions, beliefs, or mission of that person, group, or business.

My hope is that my participation in the social web and Twitter specifically remains a useful tool to network, share information, and build a community with people I may not know very well. Again my thanks to @RayBeckerman for providing many of the rules above. Go follow him if for no other reason than to learn how to use social media. Many of the Twitter users I follow are absolutely great people. If you’re inclined to see my Twitter page then here is the address: @hjluks