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Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (or “Terms”) are the terms upon which Pat Deegan, PhD. & Associates, LLC (“PDA”) offers access to this website (this “Website”).  PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THEM BEFORE USING THIS WEBSITE.  BY INDICATING YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS, OR BY USING THIS WEBSITE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO COMPLY WITH THESE TERMS.

Special terms of use and privacy policies will apply to your use of CommonGround, Recovery Library and other web application services provided by PDA.  Those terms of use and privacy policies are included elsewhere within the Website or on the applicable service webpage.  When you register to use one of PDA’s web application services, you should carefully review the terms of use and privacy policy applicable to that service.   If you accept the application-specific terms of use and privacy policy, those additional terms and policy will be incorporated herein by reference.  In case of any conflict between these Terms or the Privacy Policy (as defined below) and any application-specific terms of use or privacy policy, the terms of the application-specific terms of use or privacy policy will apply to your use of that application. 

I. Disclaimers about this Website

PDA is not a health care provider and is not providing medical advice, mental health counseling, or any other advice of any kind. This Website, and the web applications described in this website, including CommonGround and Recovery Library, and their respective content are not meant to substitute for the advice or counseling of physicians and other professional health advisors, and should not be used to diagnose or select treatment for any health condition or for advice about the use of medications.  Such content is to be used for informational and educational purposes only.  Your use of this Website and any content, product or service available on or through this Website is solely at your own risk.

IF YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, CALL YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER OR 911 IMMEDIATELY. 

This Website and its content is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, and PDA expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, currency, completeness, reliability or usefulness of information.

PDA does not warrant or guarantee that (1) this Website is compatible with any software, including without limitation internet browser software; (2) this Website will be free of infection by viruses, worms, or anything else manifesting contaminating or destructive properties; (3) all content will be accurate, complete, up to date, or free from offensive statements; or (4) the Website service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error-free or that defects will be corrected.

The Website may from time to time contain links to third-party websites. Unless otherwise noted, PDA is not affiliated with, and does not recommend or endorse the content on, such third-party websites.  If you use these links, you will leave the Website.  PDA is not responsible for the policies, privacy practices or content of such third-party websites.

II. Your liability to PDA if you breach these Terms and limits on PDA’s liability to you

A. Your indemnification of PDA

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless PDA and its officers, managers, employees, licensors, licensees, successors, assigns, agents, and advisors (collectively the “PDA Parties”) from and against any and all claims, damages, demands, losses, liabilities, costs and expenses, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, arising out of or related to (i) your breach of these Terms; and (ii) your violation of any law or the rights of another party.

B. Limitation of PDA’s liability to you

REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR OTHERWISE), AND EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED IN THESE TERMS, IN NO EVENT WILL THE PDA PARTIES BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE OR ANY CONTENT, PRODUCT OR SERVICE ACCESSED THROUGH THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR SPECIAL DAMAGES EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THE SAME. To the extent that in a particular circumstance any disclaimer or limitation on damages or liability set forth herein is prohibited by applicable law, then, instead of the provisions hereof in such particular circumstance, the PDA Parties will be entitled to the maximum disclaimers and/or limitations on damages and liability available at law or in equity by such applicable law in such particular circumstance.  PDA SHALL BE LIABLE ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF ACTUAL DAMAGES INCURRED BY YOU, NOT TO EXCEED U.S. $500. THE PDA PARTIES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY PERSONAL INJURY, INCLUDING DEATH, CAUSED BY YOUR USE OR MISUSE OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY CONTENT, PRODUCT OR SERVICE ACCESSED THROUGH THIS WEBSITE.  ANY CLAIMS ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE OR ANY CONTENT, PRODUCT OR SERVICE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WEBSITE MUST BE BROUGHT WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR OF THE DATE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO SUCH ACTION OCCURRED.  REMEDIES UNDER THESE TERMS ARE EXCLUSIVE AND ARE LIMITED TO THOSE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THESE TERMS.

III. Prohibited uses of this Website

A. Infringement of copyrights and other proprietary material

All materials available on or through this Website, including text, software, photographs, video, graphics, images, music and sound (collectively “Proprietary Material”), are protected by applicable copyright law.  You are authorized to view and, if a download option is provided by PDA, download a single copy of Proprietary Material made available on the public portions of the Website solely for your personal, non-commercial use if you preserve any copyright and proprietary rights notices they contain.  You agree not to copy, reproduce, modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reverse engineer, create derivative works of, or in any way exploit, in whole or in part, any Proprietary Material, or permit any third party to do so, except as expressly permitted by these Terms.  Title to Proprietary Material remains with PDA or its licensors, and all rights not expressly granted herein are reserved to PDA and its licensors.  Any use of Proprietary Material not expressly permitted by these Terms is a breach of these Terms and may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws. 

B. Interference and unauthorized access

You agree that you will not: (a) attempt to circumvent user authentication or the security of any account accessed through this Website; (b) use any device, software or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of this Website; or (c) take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Website’s infrastructure.  If you violate any system or interfere with network security you may incur criminal or civil liability.  PDA will cooperate fully with investigations of violations of systems or network security, including cooperating with law enforcement investigations.

IV. General terms

A. Privacy Policy

Your use of this Website is subject to the Privacy Policy available at https://www.patdeegan.com/pages/privacy-policy which is incorporate herein by reference (the “Privacy Policy”), and your use of specific web application services provided by PDA, such as CommonGround or Recovery Library will also be subject to the privacy policy specific to that application. 

B. Termination of your right to use the Website and changes to the Website by PDA

PDA may, at any time and for any reason, (i) refuse access to or restrict use of the Website or any part of it, including limiting the time of its availability, the amount of use permitted, or the persons who are permitted to use it, (ii) change the Website or any part of it, including any content, or (iii) cancel or suspend access to the Website or any part of it, including as a result of viruses, bugs, or other causes that corrupt the administration, security or proper function of the Website.  Also, PDA may issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate user access if: (a) you breach any of these Terms; (b) PDA is unable to verify or authenticate your log-in information; or (c) PDA believes that your actions may cause legal liability to any person or entity. This is in addition to any other remedies PDA may have. 

C. Arbitration

Any dispute or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the Website will be settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its rules. Any arbitration will occur in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts unless otherwise agreed by the parties. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts having jurisdiction.

D. Governing law and venue

These Terms and their validity, construction and performance will be governed exclusively by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to its choice of law provisions, and, subject to the Arbitration section above, any action relating to these Terms will be brought in the state and federal courts located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You irrevocably agree to accept the exclusive personal jurisdiction of such courts and waive any objections to such venues, including for the purposes of enforcing the Arbitration section above.

E. Enforceability; Survival

The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Terms will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. All terms and conditions of these Terms which by their nature are meant to survive the termination of your use of this Website will survive such termination.

F. Changes to these terms

PDA may revise and update certain provisions contained in these Terms from time to time. Your use of this Website following such revisions or updates will constitute your acceptance of such changes. Only an authorized representative of PDA has the authority to propose, or to bind PDA to, changes to these Terms.

G. Contacting PDA

If you have a question or other communication regarding these Terms, you may (i) send an email to [email protected]; or (ii) write to Pat Deegan, PhD. & Associates, LLC, P.O. Box 208, Byfield, MA 01922 USA, Attn:patdeegan.com.  Any inquiries deemed to relate to medical care or treatment will be referred by PDA to the applicable User’s healthcare provider.

LAST UPDATED: December 21, 2023