# Is TAM legally responsible for the death of a member who is given bad advice?



## Yosemite (Aug 23, 2016)

These two threads give the background that prompted me to start this thread. Please note this is NOT a thread about the effectiveness of antidepressants and whether or not a person should consider using them, that is being discussed on the second thread being linked below.

The member on this first linked thread posted asking about antidepressants because he was about to get divorced following his wife's affair and he was concerned he'd lose his ability to function properly and feared job loss and maybe worse. 

http://talkaboutmarriage.com/consid...on/348642-seeking-medication-suggestions.html

A member strongly discouraged him from seeking ANY form of antidepressants because "they didn't work for her and they have bad side effects and they're over prescribed by doctors who don't spend enough time with their patients and people should learn to cope without medications".

This turned into a rather heated debate between the two of us so she starts another thread dedicated to the subject of why antidepressants are bad and no one should use them:

http://talkaboutmarriage.com/general-relationship-discussion/349866-coping-hard-stuff-life.html

My question is, if a member should post on this forum, and they are discouraged from taking antidepressants by a member, and they subsequently hang themselves, and their forum posts are discovered, could the forum be liable for their death?


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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

I do not think that TAM is responsible for what is said by the members. It is clear that TAM is not a medical facility and/or site. Posters know that.


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## Yosemite (Aug 23, 2016)

I hope so. 

It's simply astounding the level of bad advice being dished out by people who have no clue.


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## meson (May 19, 2011)

Usage of TAM means that you accept the terms of use provided in this link:

VerticalScope - Driven by Enthusiasts

In particular see the section:



> THE INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE AND ANY THIRD-PARTY SITES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE OR ANY OF ITS FUNCTIONS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY PART OF THIS SITE, INCLUDING BULLETIN BOARDS, OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.
> 
> WE DO NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SITE OR MATERIALS ON THIS SITE OR ON THIRD-PARTY SITES IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE.


As you can see you agree that VerticalScope disclaims any and all responsibility in that regard.


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## Yosemite (Aug 23, 2016)

Well sure they have a disclaimer. 

Disclaimers do not always protect against legal action. 

Anyone can sue anyone for anything. Sometimes they even win, even in a supposedly iron clad case against them. Even if they lose, the costs to mount a legal defense can be crippling. 

Just ask the last poor guy who found his prenuptial agreement thrown out in court because some judge decided it wasn't fair. 

Or someone hops a fence and gets hurt on someone's property despite "No TRESSPASSING" signs all over the place. 

Or the owners of a ski resort who get sued because someone decided to ski down a closed slope and hit a tree and broke their neck. The same disclaimer of liability is printed right on the back of the ticket.

Big Vanilla At Davos 1970s Skiing Ski Pin Badge New York Ny Lost Area 1959-91 | What's it worth

Fighting a Prenuptial Agreement | LegalMatch Law Library


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## 225985 (Dec 29, 2015)

Yosemite said:


> I hope so.
> 
> 
> 
> It's simply astounding the level of bad advice being dished out by people who have no clue.




Bad advice is in the eyes of the beholder. People have died from taking common every meds such Advil, Tylenol and aspirin. All meds come with some risk. They are designed as chemicals to interfere with the biochemistry of the body. Normally, the effects are beneficial, not detrimental. But it happens. 

I would ask if YOU are liable for bad advice. I hope you have an umbrella policy because under court order in a lawsuit TAM will have to reveal your identity.


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## Yosemite (Aug 23, 2016)

blueinbr said:


> I would ask if YOU are liable for bad advice. I hope you have an umbrella policy because under court order in a lawsuit TAM will have to reveal your identity.


No worries @blueinbr

I don't give bad advice.


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## NextTimeAround (Dec 15, 2011)

Yosemite said:


> I hope so.
> 
> It's simply astounding the level of bad advice being dished out by people who have no clue.


As long as they are not sporting any onerous certifications, then you take your chances.


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## 225985 (Dec 29, 2015)

Yosemite said:


> No worries @blueinbr
> 
> 
> 
> I don't give bad advice.



I am glad you are back at TAM. Try not to get banned too quickly this time. And go easy on the newcomers. They dont know enough to appreciate the TAM humor. :-/


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## meson (May 19, 2011)

Yosemite said:


> Well sure they have a disclaimer.
> 
> Disclaimers do not always protect against legal action.
> 
> ...


Yes, you can break disclaimers under certain conditions such as:

1) Failure to follow industry standards.

2) Negligence of operations or maintenance of conditions or equipment. 

3) Creation of an improper or illegal contract implied by a disclaimer. 

I think that given the current state of online forums and the lack of properties or things that can cause direct injury that is within the control of TAM you would be hard put to break the disclaimer. 

Your example links did not provide any corroborating details to support your examples. I could easily imagine that with the examples you sited one or more of the conditions stated above existed which allowed the breaking of any disclaimer or contract.

While I am not a lawyer i do have experience and training in creating disclaimers where there might be death as a consequence of events that I led to limit my liability.


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## meson (May 19, 2011)

Well it seems a section of the CDS protects VerticalScope from user content;

https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230


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