Qs about liability risk in giving online advice

[CuriousHelper]

What liability exposure (if any) do individuals (particularly 'experts' like pediatricians, psychologists, teachers, and others) have when participating in online advice forums?

For instance, if a parent asks a question about the health of their child through an online advice forum, then receives general advice via a free public online forum, and the child subsequently gets sick (or sicker), can the parent successfully sue those individuals who provided the online advice?

What precautions can experts take in participating in online advice forums to limit their liability exposure? Does having standard language in the forum like "use/ask at your own risk and always consult a licensed medical professional" protect the participants giving advice, or just the website host? Any other legalese that must be included in the online forum to mitigate liability risk for both the website and the participants who are answering questions?

Thanks for any legal insights you can shed on this topic (and links to any related precedents or information online).

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Good question. As you can see here, we have a full array of disclaimers and terms in our terms of use. That alone still doesn't sit so well with me. Whenever I answer a question I make sure it is understood that I am not telling anyone to do anything and it is clear that only a professional who has reviewed their case/symptoms can be in a reasonable position to provide truly useful and most accurate advice. Additionally I try to explain my opinion from what I have seen, which might not necessarily coincide with your experience, your choice or another attorney. Take my bare thoughts FWIW.

For the most part I think it is difficult to sue another professional in an online forum for what one may consider "malpractice" by nature of the relationship. Who in their right mind would entrust the health and safety of their todller to "DocQuackmire" on the Road Runner forums? The greater concern is dealing with the licensing boards, which don't want professional advice to be given in such a slipshod fashion and may take action when a more severe case highlights a problem, e.g. the very bad advice results in a death.