"Ask the MGH Dietitian" provides visitors a way to submit a question electronically, to an experienced Dietitian. We do not guarantee that a Dietitian will respond to any electronic mail that you transmit to us or that any response will be timely. Questions of general interest may be posted to this web site in the Archived Question Section of the Nutrition Services web site. Dietitians will not reply directly to the person who submitted the question.

IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION THAT NEEDS AN IMMEDIATE ANSWER, YOU SHOULD CALL YOUR PHYSICIAN OR OTHER MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL AND IF YOU ARE CONFRONTING A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, CALL 911 OR OTHER LOCAL NUMBER USED FOR EMERGENCIES.

Before you communicate with our Dietitians, you must read our terms of service and agree to them. By clicking on the below button marked "Accept," you acknowledge that you have read and are bound by the provisions below. Furthermore, if you are not at least eighteen years old, you may not use this service.

TERMS OF SERVICE

This service is not intended to provide information on which anyone should rely to diagnose or treat a medical condition or to delay seeking medical attention about any such condition. This service is of no value with respect to any medical condition that needs prompt attention. If you have a question that needs an immediate answer, you should call your physician or other medical professional and if you are confronting a medical emergency, call 911 or other local number used for emergencies.

Furthermore, we urge you always to seek the advice of a physician with whom you have a doctor-patient relationship regarding any medical condition or treatment, and you should not disregard, discount, or delay seeking the advice of a physician because of any response posted on this web site.

This service is intended to assist you in obtaining general nutrition information. This general nutrition information may help you to communicate more effectively and efficiently with the treating physician and other health care professionals involved in the diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

In responding to any electronic questions, our Dietitian is not providing health care services to any individual and has not established a doctor-patient relationship with any individual. The information that our Dietitian may provide you is not substitute for professional health care services provided by or under the supervision of a physician with whom you have established a doctor-patient relationship. The information posted on this web site will contain only summary information on a subject and may not reflect all recent developments or all material information about a subject. Thorough consideration of a medical subject as applied to your circumstances can and should only occur through consultation by you with your physician.

You should be aware of the following regarding the status of the information that you may include in your electronic question to us, since these facts could affect the extent to which you are willing to disclose information to us in your electronic question:

1. Because the information is not part of a "medical record," it will not be protected against disclosure by laws that protect the confidentiality of medical records.

2. We use certain encryption technology to protect against any unauthorized access to the electronic question sent to us through this service. We cannot assure you, however, that this encryption technology will always be effective. Although we believe that the type of encryption technology that we use is reasonable for this type of Web site, more powerful encryption technology is available.

3. We will have the right to include the information provided by you in a database maintained by us. The information in this database, however, will not include identification of any person whose individual characteristics are the source of the aggregated information in the database. We also may use the database in our own businesses. More generally, by using this service, you authorize us to use any information submitted by you in any way that we choose provided that we do not disclose your identity to any person who is not employed by, or under contract to provide services to, us or any entity affiliated with us.

Information posted in response to electronic questions is provided "AS IS". No one makes any representation or warranty about such information; and we specifically disclaim any express or implied warranty, including without limitation any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular use, non-infringement of any copyright or other right, accuracy, or comprehensiveness. We are not liable to you under any circumstances for any claim that you might otherwise have or make as a result of your use of this service. By using this service, you acknowledge that you are waiving any liability that we might have (whether such liability is for direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or other damages) for any such claim.

You represent that you are at least eighteen years old. You agree that no electronic question that you send us will include any information or language which is obscene, defamatory, abusive, fraudulent, or will infringe anyone's copyright or other intellectual property or ownership right, or will contain any virus, worm, Trojan horse, or other material that could damage or adversely affect the operation of computers. You also agree to indemnify the operator of www.mgh.org, and all officers, directors, and employees of Marquette General Hospital against any liability, expenses (including without limitation attorneys' fees) and damages arising out of any claim based on your use of this service. We will notify you as soon as reasonably practical of any such claim and will allow you to participate in our defense against such claim, although we have the right to limit or end such participation if, in Marquette General Hospital's reasonable opinion, your participation is likely to become harmful to our interests.

If any of the above provisions is or becomes illegal, invalid, or unenforceable, then any such provision shall be severable and the other provisions shall remain valid and enforceable. We have made no representation, warranty or other promise to you in connection with this service other than as stated in this agreement.