NCCAM Web Site Information and Policies

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Who funds the NCCAM Web site

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and its Web site are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), United States Government.

Does NCCAM endorse products or other Web sites?

No, NCCAM does not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes, or services. The information on NCCAM's Web site may not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

What is NCCAM's linking policy?

Although organizations are welcome to link to the NCCAM Website, NCCAM policy limits outside links to other Federal government agencies and selected NCCAM grantees and partners. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis. For example, temporary links may be established with an organization that is conducting a meeting for which NCCAM is providing sponsorship. In addition, links to the developers of tools that assist visitors in using website technology are provided (e.g., Adobe Acrobat Reader).

NCCAM is not responsible for the availability or content of these external sites, nor does NCCAM endorse information described or offered at these other Web sites.

What is the source of the medical information on this site?

Medical information presented on this site is derived from rigorous research on complementary and alternative medicine. Fact sheets produced by NCCAM are carefully reviewed by both NCCAM scientists and outside experts.

Does NCCAM provide medical advice or referrals?

It is not the intention of NCCAM to provide specific medical advice, but rather to provide users with information to better understand complementary and alternative medicine. Mention of a specific treatment or resource on NCCAM's Web site does not imply endorsement by NCCAM, NIH, or DHHS.

NCCAM cautions users not to seek the complementary and alternative therapies described on this site without consulting a licensed health care provider to discuss both the advantages and risks of complementary and alternative medical treatments.

If you contact the NCCAM Clearinghouse for information, please be aware that specific medical advice or referrals to alternative health care practitioners cannot be provided. Information Specialists at the NCCAM Clearinghouse are trained to assist callers and provide other sources of information. However, because Information Specialists are not health care professionals, the information they provide cannot substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your primary health care provider.

What is this site's privacy policy?

NCCAM automatically collects and temporarily stores the following information about your visit: the domain name from which you access the Internet (such as "aol.com"), the date and time you access our site, the pages you visited, and the address of the Web site from which you came to our site. This information is not associated with individual users, it is used to measure the number of visitors to the various sections of the site and to help make the site more useful. Unless it is specifically stated otherwise, no additional information will be collected about you.

When inquiries are e-mailed to NCCAM, the question and the e-mail address information are stored so that NCCAM can respond electronically. Unless otherwise required by statute, NCCAM does not identify publicly who sends questions or comments to the Web site. NCCAM will not obtain information that will allow personal identification when you visit the site, unless you chose to provide such information.

To assure the integrity of information on this server, NCCAM reserves the right to monitor system access if malicious actions are taken to disable on-line services or intentionally gain unauthorized access to NIH systems.

Questions about NCCAM privacy policies should be sent to the NCCAM Privacy Act Officer.

Is the information on this site available for public use?

Most of the information available from this site is within the public domain and, unless otherwise noted, may be freely downloaded and reproduced. Please give source credit to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, including the publication name, the URL, and the date the document was accessed.

At times the NCCAM site may contain documents or links to documents, such as full-text journal articles, that may be copyright protected. Permission to reproduce copyrighted documents may be required.