Terms & Conditions of Service, The Lyme Disease Expert.

Thank you for visiting the The Lyme Disease Expert, LLC website located at www.thelymediseaseexpert.com. Please carefully review these Terms & Conditions of Service as they govern your use of The Lyme Disease Expert, LLC website, including any meetings, correspondence or other dealings that you have with The Lyme Disease Expert, LLC.

In addition to these rules, please refer to our “Privacy Policy” – as both these Terms & Conditions and the Privacy Policy will apply to you and are incorporated herein by reference.

The website located at www.thelymediseaseexpert.com and various related services offered through the site, including without limitation any integrated iOS or Android mobile applications (together referred to as the “Site”) is a copyrighted work belonging to Steven Luger or The Lyme Disease Expert LLC ( herein referred to as “The Lyme Disease Expert LLC”, “ us”, “ our”, and “ we”). Certain features of the Site may be subject to additional guidelines, terms, or rules, which will be posted on the Site periodically in connection with such features. All such additional terms, guidelines, and rules including without limitation our Privacy Policy are incorporated by reference into these Terms & Conditions (and collectively may be referred to as the “The Lyme Disease Expert LLC Policies” or simply the “Terms”). The Site is operated by a third party provider, which may also have separate terms and conditions that apply to you. We utilize Paypal as our payment processor.  In the event of conflict among any terms and conditions and The Lyme Disease Expert LLC Policies, the The Lyme Disease Expert LLC Policies shall govern.

These Terms are considered a contract and set forth the legally binding terms and conditions that govern your use of the Site. By accessing or using the Site, you are accepting these Terms on behalf of yourself or the entity that you represent, and you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into these Terms (on behalf of yourself or the entity that you represent). You may not access or use the Site or accept the Terms if you are not at least 18 years old. If you do not agree with the provisions of these Terms, do not access and/or use the Site.

These terms require the use of arbitration (Section 8.3) on an individual basis to resolve disputes, rather than jury trials or class actions, and limit the remedies available to you in the event of a dispute.

1.     General Access to the Site.  By accessing the Site, you agree to the following:

1.1. You understand and agree that services and information provided by The Lyme Disease Expert do not constitute the practice of medicine and are not meant to take the place of seeing licensed health practitioners.

1.2.     You represent to The Lyme Disease Expert that you have a primary care provider and that you have seen your primary care provider within the past six (6) months.

1.3.  You give permission to The Lyme Disease Expert to review any and all HIPAA protected records provided by you.

1.3    You understand that The Lyme Disease Expert is not acting in the capacity of your primary care provider or other medical provider, information provided by The Lyme Disease Expert LLC is not meant to take the place of the medical care and advice provided by your primary care provider or medical provider.

1.4   You agree not to record any consultation sessions in whole or in part.

1.5  You agree to allow us to use any written testimonial that you may provide for promotional purposes, subject to our removing any identifiers and our anonymizing your name and identity.

1.6  You HEREBY AGREE TO release the LYME DISEASE EXPERT LLC and its members, employees, officers, LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES, AND agents from any and all liability (personal or professional), damages, causes of action, allegations, suits, sums of money, claims and demands whatsoever, in law or equity, arising from your access to the site, USE OR RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN, or participation in any ZOOM MEETINGS, or in any other way related to the INFORMATION offered through the site OR FROM THE LYME DISEASE EXPERT LLC. 

2.     Accounts & Payment Terms

2.1. Account Creation and Deletion. In order to use certain features of the Site, you must register for an account (“Account”) and provide certain information about yourself as prompted by the account registration form. You represent and warrant that: (a) all required registration information you submit is truthful and accurate; (b) you will maintain the accuracy of such information. You may delete your Account at any time, for any reason, by following the instructions on the Site, which subject to Section 8 below, you acknowledge and agree will permanently delete your Account from our databases. We may suspend or terminate your Account in accordance with Section 9.

2.2. Account Responsibilities. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Account login information and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your Account. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use, or suspected unauthorized use of your Account or any other breach of security. We cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with the above requirements.

2.3 Payment Terms.  Payment for services rendered by The Lyme Disease Expert are due in advance and are non-refundable. You agree to utilize PayPal for all payment transactions.

3. Indemnification. You agree to indemnify and hold The Lyme Disease Expert, and its  members, employees, officers, legal representatives and agents harmless, including costs and attorneys’ fees, from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of (a) your use of the Site, (b) your violation of these Terms, or (c) your violation of applicable laws or regulations. The Lyme Disease Expert reserves the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims. You agree not to settle any matter without the prior written consent of The Lyme Disease Expert. The Lyme Disease Expert will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action or proceeding upon becoming aware of it.

4. Release. You hereby release and forever discharge The Lyme Disease Expert, and its  members, employees, officers, legal representatives and agents from, and hereby waive and relinquish, each and every past, present and future dispute, claim, controversy, demand, right, obligation, liability, action and cause of action of every kind and nature (including personal injury and death), that has arisen or arises directly or indirectly out of, or that relates directly or indirectly to, the Site (including any interactions with, or act or omission of, other Site users). 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.”

5 . Disclaimers

THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS-IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, AND COMPANY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, ACCURACY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, WILL BE AVAILABLE ON AN UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE BASIS, OR WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE, COMPLETE, LEGAL, OR SAFE. IF APPLICABLE LAW REQUIRES ANY WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE SITE, ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE LIMITED IN DURATION TO NINETY (90) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF FIRST USE.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

6 . Limitation on Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL WE BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, OR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE, EVEN IF COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. ACCESS TO, AND USE OF, THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR DEVICE OR COMPUTER SYSTEM, OR LOSS OF DATA RESULTING THEREFROM.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, OUR LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS (FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION), WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($500.00). THE EXISTENCE OF MORE THAN ONE CLAIM WILL NOT ENLARGE THIS LIMIT.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, IN SUCH CASE THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

7. Term and Termination.

Subject to this Section, these Terms will remain in full force and effect while you use the Site. We may suspend or terminate your rights to use the Site (including your Account) at any time for any reason at our sole discretion, including for any use of the Site in violation of these Terms. Upon termination of your rights under these Terms, your Account and right to access and use the Site will terminate immediately. We will not have any liability whatsoever to you for any termination of your rights under these Terms.

Upon any termination and upon your written request, we will make your Client Data available for electronic retrieval within ninety (90) days of such termination. “Client Data” includes the email address, username and legal name of any Site user, and any non-public data provided by you to us to enable the provision of the Services.

Even after your rights under these Terms are terminated, the following provisions of these Terms will remain in effect: Sections ­­3, Indemnification; 4, Release; 5, Disclaimers; 6, Limitation on Liability; and 8, General..

8. General

8.1. Changes. These Terms are subject to occasional revision, and if we make any substantial changes, we may notify you by sending you an e-mail to the last e-mail address you provided to us (if any), and/or by prominently posting notice of the changes on our Site. You are responsible for providing us with your most current e-mail address. In the event that the last e-mail address that you have provided us is not valid, or for any reason is not capable of delivering to you the notice described above, our dispatch of the e-mail containing such notice will nonetheless constitute effective notice of the changes described in the notice. Any changes to these Terms will be effective upon the earlier of thirty (30) calendar days following our dispatch of an e-mail notice to you (if applicable) or thirty (30) calendar days following our posting of notice of the changes on our Site. These changes will be effective immediately for new users of our Site. Continued use of our Site following notice of such changes shall indicate your acknowledgement of such changes and agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of such changes.

8.2. Claims. You may not bring a claim against us for suspending or terminating an account, and you agree you will not bring such a claim. If you attempt to bring such a claim, you are responsible for the damages caused, including attorneys’ fees and costs. These terms remain in effect even if you no longer have an account.

8.3. Dispute Resolution. ** Please read this Arbitration Agreement carefully. It is part of your contract with The Lyme Disease Expert and affects your rights. It contains procedures for MANDATORY BINDING ARBITRATION AND A CLASS ACTION WAIVER.

(a) Applicability of Arbitration Agreement. All claims and disputes (excluding claims for injunctive or other equitable relief as set forth below) in connection with the Terms or the use of any product or service provided by The Lyme Disease Expert that cannot be resolved informally or in small claims court shall be resolved by binding arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association on an individual basis under the terms of this Arbitration Agreement.  Unless otherwise agreed to, all arbitration proceedings shall be held in English. Any arbitration under this section shall take place in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.  This Arbitration Agreement applies to you and The Lyme Disease Expert and to any members, affiliates, agents, employees, predecessors in interest, successors, and assigns, as well as all authorized or unauthorized users or beneficiaries of services or goods provided under the Terms.

(b) Notice Requirement and Informal Dispute Resolution. **Before either party may seek arbitration, the party must first send to the other party a written Notice of Dispute ( “Notice” ) describing the nature and basis of the claim or dispute, and the requested relief. A Notice to The Lyme Disease Expert LLC should be sent to: Steven Luger, M.D., CEO, The Lyme Disease Expert LLC at info@thelymediseaseexpert.com, with a copy via email to Attorney Wendy Estela, wendy@aetonlaw.com. After the Notice is received, you and The Lyme Disease Expert may attempt to resolve the claim or dispute informally. If we do not resolve the claim or dispute within thirty (30) days after the Notice is received, either party may begin an arbitration proceeding. The amount of any settlement offer made by any party may not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator has determined the amount of the award, if any, to which either party is entitled.

(i) Confidentiality. **All aspects of the arbitration proceeding, including but not limited to the award of the arbitration compliance therewith, shall be strictly confidential. The parties agree to maintain confidentiality unless otherwise required by law. This paragraph shall not prevent a party from submitting to a court of law any information necessary to enforce this Agreement, to enforce an arbitration award, or to seek injunctive or equitable relief.

(c) Miscellaneous. If any part or parts of this Arbitration Agreement are found under the law to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, then such specific part or parts shall be of no force and effect and shall be severed and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. Any or all of the rights and limitations set forth in this Arbitration Agreement may be waived by the party against whom the claim is asserted. Such waiver shall not waive or affect any other portion of this Arbitration Agreement. This Arbitration Agreement will survive the termination of your relationship with The Lyme Disease Expert. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either you or The Lyme Disease Expert may bring an individual action in small claims court. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may seek emergency equitable relief before a state or federal court in order to maintain the status quo pending arbitration. A request for interim measures shall not be deemed a waiver of any other rights or obligations under this Arbitration Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, claims of defamation, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and infringement or misappropriation of the other party’s patent, copyright, trademark or trade secrets shall not be subject to this Arbitration Agreement. In any circumstances where the foregoing Arbitration Agreement permits the parties to litigate in court, the parties hereby agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within Hartford County, Connecticut, for such purpose, and waive any jurisdictional, venue, or inconvenient forum objections thereto.

9. Governing Law. This Agreement and your use of the Site is governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut, U.S.A. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE LAW OF YOUR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE (BUT EXCLUDING THE EUROPEAN UNION), YOU EXPRESSLY WAIVE ANY RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE TO REQUIRE THAT THESE TERMS AND YOUR USE OF THE SITE BE GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF ANY COUNTRY OTHER THAN THE U.S.

10. Disclosures. The Lyme Disease Expert is located in West Hartford, Connecticut.  If you are a California resident, you may report complaints to the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Product of the California Department of Consumer Affairs by contacting them in writing at 400 R Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210. Additionally, under California’s “Shine the Light” law, California residents who provide personal information in obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us, once each calendar year, information about the client information we shared, if any, with other businesses for their own direct marketing uses. If applicable, this information would include the categories of client information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared client information for the immediately preceding calendar year. To obtain this information, please send an e-mail message to info@thelymediseaseexpert.com, with “Request for California Privacy Information” in the subject line and in the body of your message. We will provide in response the requested information to you at your e-mail address. Please be aware that not all information sharing is covered by the “Shine the Light” requirements and only required information will be included in our response.

11. Electronic Communications. The communications between you and The Lyme Disease Expert use electronic means, whether you use the Site or send us emails, or whether The Lyme Disease Expert posts notices on the Site or communicates with you via email. By contracting with The Lyme Disease Expert you  (a) consent to receive communications from The Lyme Disease Expert to the contact addresses and/or phone numbers you provide to us in connection with your Account, including without limitation via automated emails, SMS text messages, cellular or telephone calls, and push notifications (if applicable); and (b) agree that all terms and conditions, agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that The Lyme Disease Expert provides to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications would satisfy if it were be in a hardcopy writing. You hereby acknowledge and agree that when using the Site we may use automatic SMS text messages or telephone dialing systems for communications with you concerning the Site and related promotion offers and further that standard text messaging and call charges will apply. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO OPT OUT OF PROMOTIONAL EMAILS YOU MAY UNSUBCRIBE VIA THE LINKS PROVIDED IN SUCH EMAILS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO OPT OUT OF TEXT MESSAGES OR CALLS YOU MAY TEXT “STOP” FROM THE DEVICE RECEIVING SUCH COMMUNICATIONS TO THE SOURCE NUMBER OF SUCH COMMUNICATIONS AS YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO CONSENT TO RECEIVE PROMOTIONAL SMS TEXT MESSAGES OR PHONE CALLS AS A CONDITION OF USING THE SITE. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO OPT OUT OF ALL COMMUNICATIONS FROM US, PLEASE CONTACT THE LYME DISEASE EXPERT CUSTOMER SUPPORT TEAM AT info@thelymediseaseexpert.com. The foregoing does not affect your non-waivable rights.

12. Entire Terms. These Terms, along with any client services agreement you may execute with The Lyme Disease Expert, constitute the entire agreement between you and us and supersede any and all prior agreements, arrangements and understandings between you and us regarding the use of the Site. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. The section titles in (or in connection with) these Terms are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. The word “including” means “including without limitation”. If any provision of these Terms is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unenforceable, the other provisions of these Terms will be unimpaired, and the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed modified so that it is valid and enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by law. These Terms, and your rights and obligations herein, may not be assigned, subcontracted, delegated, or otherwise transferred by you without The Lyme Disease Expert’s prior written consent, and any attempted assignment, subcontract, delegation, or transfer in violation of the foregoing will be null and void. The Lyme Disease Expert may freely assign these Terms. The terms and conditions set forth in these Terms shall be binding upon assignees.

13. Copyright Trademark Information. **Copyright © 2021 The Lyme Disease Expert LLC . All rights reserved. All trademarks, logos and service marks (“Marks”) displayed on the Site are our property or the property of other third parties. You are not permitted to use these Marks without our prior written consent or the consent of such third party which may own the Marks.