The St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society is committed to maintaining the highest standards in education, privacy and integrity. Our privacy policy and the informational resources provided here are provided to build your trust and confidence in your use of the Internet in safely obtaining accurate and reliable medical information.

SLMMS owns and operates this Web site for the benefit of its members as well as for any interested health care providers. SLMMS maintains editorial independence. Health information is rigorously and fairly evaluated and is believed to be consistent with the best available evidence. SLMMS makes every effort to consider all reasonable sides of controversial issues.

Wherever possible, SLMMS will disclose the sources of information presented.

COLLECTOR OF INFORMATION

Any and all information provided to SLMMS is entirely optional and private.

Personal medical information collected on this Web site by way of e-mail or other personal correspondence is received only by representatives of SLMMS. Medical inquiries will be handled with utmost security and dignity and will not be disclosed to any third parties unless specifically requested by the individual placing the inquiry. If any information is gathered regarding personal information, you will have access to the information obtained by SLMMS.

From time to time, SLMMS may consult with other appropriate resource entities regarding the nature of the inquiry, but will not disclose the identity of the individual without their expressed written consent, or if the release is required by law.

Inquiries regarding non-medical information also are treated as private and confidential. The personal information provided will be used only by designated staff within SLMMS and used only for the purposes for which one is providing the information.

SLMMS is not presently set up to track, collect, or distribute specific personal information about its visitors, and any identifying information is treated as strictly confidential. General information regarding links to and from the SLMMS Web site may be obtained for research or internal tracking in order to improve the service provided to our members by way of this Web site. To our knowledge, however, the statistics contain no personal information.

SLMMS may collect e-mail addressed from visitors who voluntarily submit them in order to receive notification regarding updates, products, services, activities, or upcoming events. Site visitors may opt out of these notifications at any time.

We will never rent, sell, exchange, or otherwise transfer information to any third party except by personal request or permission, or as may be required by law.

COOKIES, BANNERS, CHAT

SLMMS endorses the AMA Principles for Advertising and Sponsorship as outlined in the Guidelines for Medical and Health Information Sites on the Internet. An advertisement on the SLMMS Web site constitutes neither a guarantee or an endorsement of the product or service of the company placing such advertisement. SLMMS will sell advertising space only when the inclusion of such will not interfere with the mission or objectives of SLMMS.

Advertising and promotional materials have no influence on the scientific or editorial content of the materials submitted on the SLMMS Web site or its publications. Decisions to sell advertising space will be made independently of any publications or editorial content presented on the SLMMS Web site, and sales representatives will have no prior knowledge of the content of the scientific or editorial presentations.

Cookies are standard tools that allow Web servers to store and retrieve log-on information and they may be used in order to save a password so that you may not need to re-enter it when returning to restricted areas of this site. Cookies also may be used to track visitor practices to help determine the relative importance of features and Web site content. The cookies, themselves, may not be used to determine the identity of our users. However, if you choose to not accept cookies, this may create a need for you to re-enter your password when trying to access pages on this Web site that require it.

Please be advised that the SLMMS Web site provides links and advertisements from commercial entities, and these are likely to track their own information regarding their visitors. Information regarding the use of this information may be obtained by accessing the privacy statements of the host Web server.

SLMMS has no control over the information collected by these advertisers which may use cookies and banners. We advise caution when accepting cookies, clicking on banners, or using the Search and Chat functions. Information provided on Chat Rooms becomes public, and therefore privacy is outside of the control of SLMMS. Disclosure of personal information on such venues may increase the use�s likelihood of receiving �spam� or unsolicited e-mail, and personal information is subject to use by third parties and international database organizations.

E-mail messages sent to any Web site may not be secure, so visitors are advised to avoid sending confidential information through insecure Web connections.

LINKS

The SLMMS Web site provides links to numerous other Web sites. SLMMS will make reasonable efforts to ensure that linked sites comply with applicable law and the same high ethical standards demanded by the SLMMS site itself. However, SLMMS is not responsible for the content of the links presented and does not necessarily endorse the ideas or advice presented therein.

When you click on any link, you are subject to any privacy practices of that particular site. These practices may differ from ours, and we are not responsible for their privacy practices. We strongly encourage you to read the privacy statements of all sites visited and use caution in revealing personal information.

QUALITY

SLMMS endorses the highest standards in education, service and integrity. However, if there are any concerns regarding the quality, reliability, or presentation of information provided by this Web site or the services provided by any of the links/banners contained herein, you are encouraged to contact SLMMS by the link provided at the bottom of this page and let us know of your concerns.

ADULTS / CHILDREN

These Web pages are directed toward adults. However, for any user under the age of 13, we require verifiable parental consent for use of the site. This will be necessary before we can answer any questions or provide relevant information to the user. We encourage parents to always check and monitor their children�s online activity.