Terms of Service

Please read these terms of service carefully. This is a binding contract between you and HealthBytes, inc., a California corporation (“HealthBytes” or “Company”). The Company provides a social network with informational resources for United States users interested in educating and empowering themselves with healthcare related knowledge (“Services”). This website is located at www.healthbytes.com (“Site”).

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access and use of the Site and all related subdomain, the HealthBytes mobile application (“App”), and any content, functionality, and services offered on or through the Site or the App such as text, information, images and other information or materials made available to you or by you through the Services (“HealthBytes Platform”). “You” means any registered account holder, any adult (over the age of 18) user of the Site, or any parent or guardian of any minor whom you allow to access the HealthBytes Platform, and for whom you will be held strictly responsible.

If you are a minor, as used in these Terms meaning persons under 18 years of age, you must obtain the permission of your parent or guardian prior to accessing the HealthBytes Platform. If you do not obtain such permission, do not access the HealthBytes Platform.

By accessing the HealthBytes Platform, you signify your assent to both these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is available at healthbytes.com/privacy-policy. Changes may be made to these Terms from time to time. Your continued use of the HealthBytes Platform will be deemed acceptance to amended or updated terms. You are encouraged to check this page from time to time so that you are aware of any changes, as they are binding on you. If you do not agree to any of these Terms, please do not use the HealthBytes Platform.

1. Limited License

HealthBytes grants you a limited license to access the HealthBytes Platform and use the Services subject to these Terms for your lawful personal use only.

You agree not to use the HealthBytes Platform in any way that violates any federal, state or local law or regulation or professional rule applicable to you and your use of the Services including, without limitation, those relating to patient privacy, medical care and treatment including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), physician self-referrals (the Stark law), or text messaging (the Telephone Consumer Protection Act).

You acknowledge that HealthBytes may, at its sole discretion and at any time, stop providing any part of the HealthBytes Platform or the Services without notice. You also acknowledge that HealthBytes reserves the sole right to amend the HealthBytes Platform and any of the Services (including any support services). You understand and agree that HealthBytes will not be liable to you or any third party, if for any reason, all or any part of the HealthBytes Platform or the Services are unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, HealthBytes may restrict access to some parts of the HealthBytes Platform or the Services to you, even if you are a registered user with a user account on the HealthBytes Platform (“Registered User”).

By accessing the HealthBytes Platform, you represent and warrant that (a) you will provide accurate, current, and complete information when you submit registration information to HealthBytes; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information; (c) you are 18 years of age or older or have your parent’s or guardian’s permission to enter into this agreement, or otherwise have the ability to form a binding contract; and (d) your use of the HealthBytes Platform does not violate any applicable law or regulation or any obligation you may have to a third party.

HealthBytes Platform is a social network and is not a substitute for and does not provide professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It does not replace your relationship with any doctor or other qualified health care provider and may not be appropriate for all medical conditions or concerns. If you think you may be having a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.

You are welcome to link to the HealthBytes Platform from your website, provided that your website does not imply any endorsement by or association with HealthBytes.

2. Term

These Terms will take effect immediately upon commencement of your access of the HealthBytes Platform and will remain in force and effect for as long as you are accessing the HealthBytes Platform.

3. Medical Disclaimer

Information available on the HealthBytes Platform are for informational and educational purposes only and are not a substitute for the professional judgment of a health care professional in diagnosing and treating patients.

No doctor-patient relationship exists between you, HealthBytes and other HealthBytes users. You further acknowledge that you are not receiving medical treatment or advise from a doctor or other medical professional while using the Services. As such, you waive any assumption, presumption, expression, interpretation, association, or other understanding related to the existence of a doctor-patient relationship between you, HealthBytes, and other HealthBytes users. HealthBytes is not a substitute for, and does not provide, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

HealthBytes or you are not permitted to advise, diagnose, or otherwise treat users of the HealthBytes Platform. Neither the content nor any other Services is intended to be for medical diagnosis or treatment. Persons accessing this information assume full responsibility for the use of the information and agree that HealthBytes is not responsible or liable for any claim, loss, or damage arising from the use of the information.

HealthBytes does not recommend or endorse any specific drugs, tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, “off-label” drug uses or other information that may be mentioned on the HealthBytes Platform. Your reliance upon the information on the HealthBytes Platform obtained or used by you is solely at your own risk.

4. Account Registration

You may register for an account with HealthBytes by registering as a Registered User of the HealthBytes Platform (“HealthBytes Account”).

You may also choose to not register for an account with HealthBytes and access the HealthBytes Platform as a guest user. However, In order to access some of the Services on the HealthBytes Platform, such as making a post and leaving a comment, you must be a Registered User that has a HealthBytes Account.

To be a Registered User, you are required to create a username and a password that can be obtained by providing certain information about yourself as prompted by HealthBytes’s online registration form, including your first and last name, your birthday, your general interest of healthcare related topics and a valid email address at which you are able to receive email (“Registration Data”). You may not create a username that is used by someone else, and your username cannot be indecent, or otherwise offensive, or be used in any way that violates these Terms and common practices. You may become a Registered User through your accounts with certain third-party social networking services, such as Facebook, Linkedin or Apple ID (“SNS Account”). You have the ability to disable the connection between your HealthBytes Account and your SNS Account at any time, by accessing the “Settings” section of the HealthBytes Platform.

If you are a health care professional wishing to become a verified user on the HealthBytes Platform, you may elect to create a verified account during the account registration process or any time after registering for a HealthBytes Account. You will be required to submit a copy of your government issued ID to HealthBytes, which will conduct manual verification of your licensure credential via searches in the public database for your relevant profession.

You acknowledge that all information you provide to HealthBytes when registering to become a Registered User are accurate, current and complete. You shall have all responsibility for any inaccuracies in any information you provide to us, or in respect of your failure to keep such information accurate and up to date. You may update any information you provided to us as needed in your account setting on the HealthBytes Platform.

HealthBytes reserves the right to refuse to allow you to open an account for any reason, or to limit the number of accounts you may establish on the HealthBytes Platform, all at its sole discretion. HealthBytes may also suspend or terminate your HealthBytes Account, for any reason, in its sole discretion and without notice, and remove from the HealthBytes Platform any Content (as defined below) associated with your HealthBytes Account. Grounds for such termination may include but is not limited to: (i) extended periods of inactivity, (ii) violation of the Terms, (iii) fraudulent, harassing or abusive behavior, or (iv) behavior that is harmful to other users, third parties, or the business interests of HealthBytes.

You should not reveal your password to other users. We will not ask you to reveal your password. If you forget your password, you can request to have a new password sent to your registered e-mail address. Your account is at risk if you let someone use it inappropriately and your account is subject to termination if you or anyone using your account violates these Terms. If your account is terminated, you may not open an account again without the Company’s express permission.

You agree to immediately notify HealthBytes of any unauthorized use of your HealthBytes account or password. You are fully and solely responsible for the security of your computer system and all activity on your account, even if such activities were not committed by you. HealthBytes will not be liable for any losses or damage arising from unauthorized use of your account or password, and you agree to indemnify and hold HealthBytes harmless for any improper or illegal use of your account, including any mail sent and any charges and taxes incurred, unless you have notified us via e-mail to Support@healthbytes.com that your account has been compromised, and have requested us to block access to it. We do not police for and cannot guarantee that we will learn of or prevent, any inappropriate use of your HealthBytes Account on the HealthBytes Platform. You may be held liable for losses incurred by HealthBytes or another party due to someone else using your HealthBytes Account. You should log out from your account at the end of each use.

Your HealthBytes Account may not be sold or otherwise transferred to another person or entity and is limited to one single user per HealthBytes Account.

You may delete your account at any time, for any reason, by notifying us via e-mail to Support@healthbytes.

Any suspension or deletion of your account shall not affect your obligations under these Terms (including but not limited to, ownership, indemnification, any representations and warranties made by you, and limitation of liability), which by their sense and context are intended to survive such suspension or termination. On termination, you lose the right to access part of the HealthBytes Platform that are only available for Registered Users.

You agree that all information you provide to register with HealthBytes or otherwise is governed by our Privacy Policy as available at healthbytes.com/privacy-policy, and you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent with our Privacy Policy.

5. Communications with the Company

When you access the HealthBytes Platform, you are communicating with us electronically, and you consent to receiving communications from us electronically. The Company may provide you with use of email support services to enable you to communicate with the Company (“Communication Services”). You hereby acknowledge your consent to the following communications from the Company:

• messages posted to your HealthBytes Account on the HealthBytes Platform, email from the Company regarding the Services; and
• updates about changes to the HealthBytes Platform.

6. Communications with Other Users

The Service enables users to communicate information to others in many ways including through their profiles, social actions (e.g., liking, sharing or commenting on a post), and through our Q&A communication tools. We authorize you to use these tools for non-commercial purposes, unless otherwise expressly approved by the Company. You are solely responsible for your interactions with other users. HealthBytes reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other users and respond as necessary to enforce these Terms.

Please note that any information you share through posting on the HealthBytes Platform (subject to certain privacy settings) will be seen by others, and may be used and re-shared by such users on the HealthBytes Platform, so be mindful as to what you choose to share, and do not share in this manner any content or information that is confidential, that you do not want others to see or use, or that is subject to third party rights. HealthBytes is not responsible for another user's use, misuse or misappropriation of any Content or information you post, upload, or transmit via the Services unless otherwise expressly agreed by HealthBytes pursuant to a separate written agreement.

Verified Registered Users that are health care professionals are prohibited from providing medical advice using the Services and must maintain patient confidentiality by preventing the disclosure of any patient-specific information on the HealthBytes Platform unless appropriate prior authorizations have been obtained. Such prohibited information includes any text, image, video, or other media identifying an individual as a patient of the Verified Registered Users as well as any media in which patients of a Verified Registered Users or any protected health information are visible.

7. Use of Devices and Services

Access to the HealthBytes Platform may require the use of your personal computer or mobile device, as well as communications with or use of space on such devices. You are responsible for any Internet connection or mobile fees and charges that you incur when accessing the HealthBytes Platform.

8. Intellectual Property Rights

The HealthBytes Platform, and its entire contents, features and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, featured images, video and audio, and the design, selection and arrangement of the above), are owned by the Company, its suppliers, or its licensors, and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other applicable intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.

You should not re-use or re-publish any content made available through the Service or copy any of the material made available through the Services for commercial purposes including, without limitation, content posted by other HealthBytes Platform users, without the express written permission of the Company or such user, as applicable.

You should not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, download, store or transmit any of the material made available to you on HealthBytes Platform, except:

• your computer or mobile device may temporarily store copies of such materials in RAM incidental to your accessing and viewing those materials on either of your computer or mobile device, respectively,
• you may store files that are automatically cached by your Web browser for display enhancement purposes,

You must not:

• modify copies of any materials from the HealthBytes Platform without appropriate licenses;
• delete or alter any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notices from copies of materials obtained from the HealthBytes Platform.

If you wish to obtain the necessary license to make use of any material on the HealthBytes Platform, please email support@healthbytes.com.

If you print, copy, modify, download or otherwise use or provide any other person, organization, company, or business with access to any part of HealthBytes Platform in breach of these Terms, your right to access the Site and use the Services will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. No right, title or interest in or to HealthBytes or any content on the Site is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by HealthBytes.

The Company name, the term “HealthBytes” and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans are trademarks of the Company or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of the Company. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans on the Site are the trademarks of their respective owners, where applicable.

9. Content

Content as used in these Terms means the posts published on the HealthBytes Platform and the comments viewers posted for the posts featured on the HealthBytes Platform.

If you have a HealthBytes Account, you may be able to upload Content to the HealthBytes Platform and you may comment on the Content featured on the HealthBytes Platform.

If you choose to upload Content, you must not submit any Content that does not comply with these Terms or any applicable law. For example, the Content you submit must not include third-party intellectual property (such as copyrighted material) unless you have permission from that party or are otherwise legally entitled to do so. You are legally responsible for the Content you submit to the HealthBytes Platform. We may use automated systems that analyze your Content to help detect infringement and abuse, such as spam, malware, infringing and illegal content.

You retain ownership rights in your Content. However, we do require you to grant certain rights to HealthBytes, as described below:

• By uploading Content to the Site, you grant to HealthBytes a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid and fully sublicensable right and license to perform, distribute, modify, reproduce, create derivative works of, and otherwise commercially or non-commercially use all such Content in any manner determined solely by HealthBytes.
• The licenses granted by you continue for a commercially reasonable period of time after you remove or delete your Content from the HealthBytes Platform. You understand and agree, however, that HealthBytes may retain, but not display, distribute, or perform, server copies of Content that have been removed or deleted.

You may remove your Content from the HealthBytes Platform at any time. You also have the option to make a copy of your Content before removing it. You must remove your Content if you no longer have the rights required by these Terms.

Please note that all your Content will remain on the HealthBytes Platform pointing to an unknown user if and when you terminate your HealthBytes Account. If you wish to remove your Content when you terminate your HealthBytes Account, please do so before terminating your account.

If HealthBytes reasonably believes that any Content is in breach of these Terms or may cause harm to HealthBytes, our users, or third parties, we may remove or take down that Content in our sole discretion. We will notify you with the reason for our action unless we reasonably believe that to do so: (a) would breach the law or the direction of a legal enforcement authority or would otherwise risk legal liability for HealthBytes; (b) would compromise an investigation or the integrity or operation of the Site; or (c) would cause harm to any user, other third party, HealthBytes or our affiliates.

10. Copyright Protection

We respect the intellectual property rights of others and request all users of the HealthBytes Platform to do the same.

If you believe your copyright has been infringed on the HealthBytes Platform, please notify us by email at support@healthbytes.com to submit a written notification, stating the location of the work claimed to be infringing.

Upon the receipt of written notification of infringement and subject to applicable copyright laws, HealthBytes may remove or disable access to any such Content.

To be effective, the notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication that includes substantially the following:

• A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the right that is allegedly infringed;
• Identification of the work and the pertinent exclusive legal right claimed to be infringed, or if multiple works or legal rights are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such elements;
• Identification of the material that is claimed to infringe or to be the subject of infringing activity and the access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material, including the precise location on the Services where they discovered the work claimed to be infringing;
• Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact them, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which you may be contacted;
• A statement that they have a good faith belief that the use of the material, in the manner complained of, is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
• A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that they are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of copyright that is allegedly infringed.

After receiving the communication, HealthBytes may ask person who submitted the claimed infringement to provide further or supplemental information, prior to removing any Content on the HealthBytes Platform, as we deem necessary to comply with applicable law. We may also provide the user who uploaded the allegedly infringing content, with the contact details of person who submitted the claimed infringement, in order for the former to be able to contact the latter and challenge the claim.

Counter Notification

• If HealthBytes removes Content that a user submitted for posting, pursuant to a notification of claimed infringement that we received, then that user has an opportunity to respond to the notification and our takedown by submitting a counter-notification. To be effective, the counter notification must be a written communication that includes substantially the following:
  1. The user's physical or electronic signature;
  2. Identification of the material to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before access to it was disabled;
  3. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the users has a good faith belief that the material was disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be disabled;
  4. User's name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the user consents to the jurisdiction of the competent courts in any judicial district in which their address is located or in which they may be found, and that they will accept service of process from the person who provided notification or an agent of such person.

After receipt of a counter notification, we will provide the person who submitted the claimed infringement notification, with a copy of the counter notification.

We may then repost the removed material and cease disabling access to it within 10 to 14 business days following receipt of the counter notice, unless HealthBytes first receives notice from the person who notified us of the claimed infringement that such person has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain such user from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material on the HealthBytes Platform.

HealthBytes reserve the right to deny or cancel any instance of your use of the Services, or terminate your HealthBytes Account altogether, if we determine, at our sole discretion, that you are a repeat infringer. A repeat infringer is a user who has been notified of infringing activity more than twice or a user whose uploaded Content was removed from the Services more than twice.

Any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that certain Content is infringing, or certain Content was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, that we may incur, if we are injured by such misrepresentation, as the result of our reliance upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the Content claimed to be infringing.

Please contact HealthBytes’s copyright agent for all alleged infringement-related notifications:

• Name:
• Email address: legal@healthbytes.com
• Postal Address: [ADDRESS]
• Telephone number: [PHONE]

11. No Unlawful or Prohibited Use

You agree to use the HealthBytes Platform only for your lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms.

You agree not to use the HealthBytes Platform

• for any unlawful purpose or in any way that violates applicable federal, state, local or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the U.S. or other countries);
• to impersonate or attempt to impersonate the Company, a Company employee or agent, another user or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using e-mail addresses or usernames associated with any of the foregoing);
• to engage in any other conduct that interferes, restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the HealthBytes Platform, or which, as determined by us, may harm HealthBytes, other users of the HealthBytes Platform or expose them to liability;
• to use the HealthBytes Platform in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair any HealthBytes server, or the network(s) connected to any HealthBytes server;
• to gain unauthorized access to the Service or other users’ HealthBytes Accounts, computer systems or networks connected to any Company server or to any of the Content, through hacking, password mining or any other means;
• to obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through the HealthBytes Platform;
• to use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process, or means to access the HealthBytes Platform for any prohibited purposes, including monitoring or copying any of the material presented thereon,
• to use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the HealthBytes Platform, or for any other unauthorized purpose without Company’s prior written consent;
• to use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of and delivery of the Services;
• to introduce any viruses, trojan horses, worms, logic bombs or other material, which is malicious or technologically harmful;
• to reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, decipher or otherwise attempt to derive the source code for the Services or any related technology that is not open source;
• to monitor the Site’s availability, performance or functionality, or for any other benchmarking or competitive purposes, including, without limitation, for the purpose of developing any product or service to compete against the Company or any other competitive purposes;
• to attack the Site via a denial-of-service (DOS) attack or a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack or otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the HealthBytes Platform;
• to use the HealthBytes Platform in any way that is inappropriate or disrespectful of other users, including, but not limited to, select a username that contains profanity or racial slurs, upload inappropriate or offensive contents and post inappropriate comments. HealthBytes reserves the sole discretion in determining what is inappropriate or disrespectful.

12. Third-Party Materials.

The HealthBytes Platform might display, include or make available third-party content (including data, information, commercials, or other materials) or contain links to third-party websites, services, and advertisements for third parties (collectively, the “Third-Party Materials”). You agree that HealthBytes is not responsible for Third-Party Materials, including their accuracy, completeness, timeliness, validity, copyright compliance, legality, decency, quality, or any other aspect thereof. HealthBytes does not assume and will not have any liability or responsibility to you or any other person for any Third-Party Materials.

13. Disclaimer of Warranties.

You understand that HealthBytes cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the Internet or the HealthBytes Platform, will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data.

We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, mobile device, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of the Site or any Services or items obtained through the HealthBytes Platform or to your downloading of any Content or on any website or app linked to it.

Your access of the HealthBytes Platform, its Content and any Services we provide is at your own risk. The HealthBytes Platform, its Content and any Services it provides are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied. You understand and agree that we assume no responsibility for the timeliness, deletion, mis-delivery or failure to store any Content, user communications or personalization settings. Neither HealthBytes nor any person associated with HealthBytes makes any warranty or representation with respect to the completeness, security, reliability, quality, accuracy or availability of the Site and the Services. Without limiting the foregoing, neither HealthBytes nor anyone associated with HealthBytes represents or warrants that the Site, its content or any Services will be accurate, reliable, error-free or uninterrupted, that defects will be corrected, that the Site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or other harmful components; and that Services you obtain through the Site will otherwise meet your needs or expectations.

HealthBytes hereby disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, statutory or otherwise, including but not limited to any warranties of merchantability, non-infringement, and fitness for particular purpose.

The foregoing does not affect any warranties which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

14. Limitation of Liability

We assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, any Content or Services. We are not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email due to technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or on any of the HealthBytes Platform or combination thereof, including any injury or damage to users or to any person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading materials in connection with the HealthBytes Platform. Under no circumstances shall we be responsible for any loss or damage, including personal injury or death, resulting from use of the HealthBytes Platform, from any Content posted on or through the HealthBytes Platform, or from the conduct of any Users of the HealthBytes Platform, whether online or offline.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COMPANY OR ANY OF OUR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE HEALTHBYTES PLATFORM, CONTENT AND SERVICES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR UTILITY OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED AS PART OF OR THROUGH THE SERVICES, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARE FORESEEABLE AND WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SHALL APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW IN THE APPLICABLE JURISDICTION AND IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU EXCEED U.S. $100.

THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

15. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its affiliates, licensors and service providers, and its respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, suppliers, successors and assigns from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses or fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms or your use of the HealthBytes Platform.

16. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

All matters relating to HealthBytes, Privacy Policy and these Terms and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction).

IF YOU ARE A CALIFORNIA RESIDENT, YOU HEREBY WAIVE CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE SECTION 1542 IN CONNECTION WITH THE FOREGOING, WHICH STATES: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.”

17. Dispute Resolution

We encourage you to contact HealthBytes’s Customer Service department via email at Support@healthbytes.com if you have concerns or complaints about the Services. Generally, user complaints can be satisfactorily resolved this way. If we cannot resolve your concerns informally, disputes between you and HealthBytes shall be resolved pursuant to this Section.

At the Company’s sole discretion, it may require you to submit any disputes arising out of or relating to any aspect of your relationship with HealthBytes, first to mediation in the Los Angeles County, California, U.S., then next to final and binding confidential arbitration under the Rules of Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association applying the laws of the State of California, without regard to its choice of law provisions. Under this Agreement, arbitrators can award the same individual relief affecting individual parties that a court can award, including damages and an award of attorneys’ fees, if the applicable law allows. You and the Company each agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated or representative action. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT YOU ARE GIVING UP THE RIGHT TO LITIGATE A DISPUTE IN COURT BEFORE A JUDGE OR JURY. YOU AND THE COMPANY AGREE TO ARBITRATE IN EACH OF OUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES ONLY, NOT AS A REPRESENTATIVE OR MEMBER OF A CLASS, AND EACH OF US EXPRESSLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT TO FILE A CLASS ACTION OR SEEK RELIEF ON A CLASS BASIS.

18. Waiver; Severability

No waiver by HealthBytes of any term or condition set forth in these Terms shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of HealthBytes to assert a right or provision under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

If any provision of these Terms is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms of Service will continue in full force and effect.

19. Entire Agreement

These Terms constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and the Company with respect to the Site and Services, and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to the Site and Services.

20. Force Majeure

Any failure or delay by HealthBytes in the performance of its obligations pursuant to these Terms will not be deemed a default or breach of these Terms or a ground for termination to the extent such failure or delay is due to computer or Internet or telecommunications breakdowns, denial of service attacks, fire, flood, earthquake, elements of nature or acts of God, pandemic, acts of war, terrorism, riots, civil unrest, rebellions or revolutions in the U.S. or any nation where the obligations under these Terms are to be executed, strikes, supplier and third party failure, lockouts, or labor difficulties, or any similar cause beyond the reasonable control of HealthBytes.

21. Your Comments and Concerns.

You may contact us and direct all other feedbacks, comments, requests for technical support, request for refund and other communications relating to the Site and the Services via email at Support@healthbytes.com.