Terms of use

These are the ground rules for reading and using Doctor Key West. They are short and written in plain English on purpose. Using the site means you accept them. Effective date: July 2026.

Acceptance of terms

By reading this site or sending in a question, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, the honest move is to not use the site, and no hard feelings.

Educational purpose

Everything here is general education, not medical advice, and reading it or writing in does not create a doctor-patient relationship. The full boundaries are set out in the medical disclaimer, which is worth two minutes of your time before you rely on anything you read.

Ask submissions

The visible rule on the form is the deal: general questions only, no personal medical advice, and nothing urgent, which belongs on the phone with your doctor or 911, not in a web form. By submitting a question you grant permission to publish an edited, de-identified version of it in the column, and selected questions are answered there with your name and identifying details removed. Please do not send emergencies or personal medical detail through the form.

Intellectual property

The columns are original work. You may quote a short passage with credit and a link back; please do not republish whole columns as your own.

External links

Links to other sites are provided editorially, because they are useful, not as endorsements. This site does not control and is not responsible for what lives at the other end of a link.

Limitation of liability

This site is offered as is, in good faith, to inform rather than to treat. It is not liable for decisions made in reliance on general educational content, which is exactly why anything that matters to your health should go through a clinician who can examine you.

No warranties

The information here is provided in good faith and kept as accurate as an honest review process allows, but it comes with no warranty that it is complete, current for your situation, or free of error. Medicine changes, guidance is updated, and a column written this year may read differently next year, which is exactly why the dated byline exists and why anything that matters gets confirmed with a clinician.

Changes to these terms

These terms may change, and material updates carry a new effective date at the top of this page. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the updated terms. The privacy policy and the ask page round out how the site works, and together the three describe the whole arrangement between this column and the people who read it.