Medical Disclaimer

§1. Scope

1. This Disclaimer is the full text of the medical disclaimer referred to by the banner displayed on the medical pages of the website eosinophilic-fasciitis.org (the “Service”), operated by Damian “Kuljo” Kuliś (the “Operator”).

2. It applies to every page of the Service presenting content on eosinophilic fasciitis (M35.4 under ICD-10, Shulman syndrome) and on its diagnosis and treatment.

3. It is referred to in §7(5) of the Terms of Service and forms part of the contractual relationship established there between the Operator and the user of the Service (the “User”).

§2. Nature of the content

1. All content of the Service is informational and educational.

2. The content does not constitute:

   • medical advice in any individual clinical situation;
   • a diagnosis of any disease, condition or symptom;
   • a prognosis as to the course of any disease, condition or symptom;
   • a recommendation of any therapy, medicinal product, medical device, dietary intervention or rehabilitation modality;
   • an assessment of whether any intervention is appropriate for any particular person;
   • a tool for making health decisions independently.

3. The content does not replace consultation with a physician or with another healthcare professional authorised to practise.

§3. The author

1. The Operator is a person diagnosed with M35.4 — that is, a patient. The Operator is not a physician, carries on no medical activity within the meaning of the Act of 15 April 2011 on Medical Activity, and provides no health services.

2. The content of the Service is the product of:

   • the Operator’s own work in understanding and documenting the rare disease from which the Operator suffers;
   • a review of peer-reviewed scientific literature, citing DOI or PubMed identifiers where available;
   • contributions from patients and clinicians provided under the cooperation procedure set out in §6 of the Terms of Service.

3. The content of the Service does not represent the position of any medical institution, learned society, regulatory authority or healthcare provider, and is not produced under the editorial supervision of any such body.

§4. Treatment decisions

1. Decisions on diagnosis and treatment — in particular on starting, changing or ending pharmacotherapy, on dosage and duration of treatment, on surgical and rehabilitation interventions, on diagnostic tests and referrals, and on dietary interventions directed at treating the disease — rest with the treating physician of the person concerned, taken within a direct clinical relationship and with knowledge of that patient’s full medical records.

2. The User may present information obtained from the Service to their treating physician for discussion. The User should not alter an established treatment plan independently on the basis of the content of the Service.

§5. Limits of accuracy

1. The Operator takes care to keep the medical content accurate, current and supported by primary sources, in accordance with the editorial rules published on the “About this site” page — including the requirement to label as a patient observation or illustrative material any content lacking a verified source.

2. The Operator does not warrant:

   • the completeness of the content on any of the topics addressed;
   • that the content reflects the current state of medical knowledge — eosinophilic fasciitis is a rare disease and the literature on it is sparse, evolving and in places inconsistent;
   • the suitability of the content in any individual clinical situation;
   • freedom from errors, omissions and translation inaccuracies in any of the six language versions of the Service.

3. The last-updated date shown on a medical page indicates the day of the Operator’s most recent substantive review of that page. The User should check whether the content has been superseded by more recent literature.

§6. No advertising of medicinal products or medical devices

1. The Service carries no advertising of medicinal products within the meaning of Article 52(1) of the Act of 6 September 2001 — Pharmaceutical Law, and no advertising of medical devices within the meaning of the Act of 7 April 2022 on Medical Devices.

2. References to medicinal products and medical devices appearing in the Service are informational and educational — they describe the state of knowledge about treatment of the disease — and do not serve to increase the number of prescriptions issued, or the supply, sale or use of any product.

3. The Service contains no trade names or manufacturer marks given for promotional purposes, encourages the use of no particular product, and derives no benefit from naming one.

§7. Escalating medical questions

1. Emergency. Call the emergency number 112 (European Union) or the applicable local number. The Service provides no emergency assistance.

2. Management of diagnosed M35.4. Consult your treating rheumatologist or, in the absence of one, your primary care physician for a referral. The “Diagnosis” and “For clinicians” pages may serve as a starting point for that conversation.

3. Suspected disease before diagnosis. Consult your primary care physician or a dermatologist and ask for a referral to a rheumatologist. The “Symptoms” and “Diagnosis” pages may help in preparing for the conversation; they are not a basis for self-diagnosis.

4. Patient organisations and rare disease registries. Use the resources listed on the “Support” page, in particular the Orphanet database, which maintains the entry for eosinophilic fasciitis (ORPHA:3165) together with national contact points.

5. Clinical trials. Use the public clinical trial registries, searching for “eosinophilic fasciitis” or “M35.4”.

6. The Operator gives no consultations on individual clinical matters and is not authorised to do so.

§8. Liability

1. The content of the Service is provided without warranty as to accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose or freedom from error.

2. The Operator’s liability for damage arising in connection with use of the Service is excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. The exclusion does not cover damage caused intentionally (Article 473 § 2 of the Polish Civil Code) or liability that cannot be excluded under mandatory provisions of law, in particular liability for personal injury.

3. Within the limits of paragraph 2, the Operator is not liable for:

   • decisions taken by the User, a patient, a treating physician or any other person on the basis of the content of the Service, or for their consequences;
   • the accuracy or currency of third-party sources cited or linked in the Service.

4. In the event of any discrepancy between this Disclaimer and §7 of the Terms of Service, the provision more favourable to the User prevails.

§9. Amendments and contact

1. The Operator may amend this Disclaimer. Amendments are announced by updating the version number and effective date shown at the head of the document and by maintaining a change history in the publicly available source-code repository of the Service. Material amendments are additionally announced visibly on the Service for 14 days before they take effect.

2. Questions about this Disclaimer may be sent to contact@eosinophilic-fasciitis.org and, on data protection matters, to rodo@eosinophilic-fasciitis.org. Correspondence address: ul. Jarosława Dąbrowskiego 18/6, 02-561 Warsaw, Poland.