Legal
Four documents, in plain English. Where something cannot lawfully be excluded, that is stated rather than hidden.
This policy applies to visitors to this website and to people who contact the practice through it, whether by WhatsApp, email or telephone. It applies alongside, and does not replace, the confidentiality obligations that govern the clinical record of any patient.
For the purposes of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the Data Fiduciary is the medical practitioner operating as The Root Cause Physician, practising in Goa, Alibaug and Mumbai. The practitioner's identity, registration details and registered address are provided on written request to dr@therootcausephysician.com and are supplied to any patient before a consultation takes place.
This website contains no forms, no login, no comment facility and no analytics cookies set by the practice. It does not ask you for your name, your email address or any health information.
Your browser will transmit standard technical information to the hosting provider when a page is requested — IP address, browser type, referring page, and the time of the request. This is generated by the operation of the internet itself and is retained by the hosting provider under its own policy.
Typefaces are served from Google Fonts and the embedded video links to YouTube. Requesting a page may therefore transmit technical information to those providers under their own policies. No video is embedded inline; the video card is a static image that links out, so YouTube receives nothing unless you choose to click it.
Every enquiry route on this site opens WhatsApp or your email client. At that point you are communicating over that provider's platform, subject to that provider's terms and encryption. The practice receives the message you choose to send.
What is collected is therefore entirely determined by what you write. Please send only what is necessary to make an enquiry. Do not send detailed clinical information, reports or images before a consultation has been arranged.
The practice does not sell personal data, does not share it for advertising, and does not transfer it to third parties for their own purposes.
Processors necessarily involved in operating the service include the website host, WhatsApp (Meta) where you choose that channel, the email provider, Google Fonts for typeface delivery, and YouTube if you click through to a video. Where a laboratory or imaging facility is engaged in the course of your care, that is done with your knowledge as part of the consultation.
Enquiries that do not become consultations are retained only as long as needed to deal with the enquiry and are then deleted. Clinical records are retained for the period required by professional and statutory obligation. Statutory occupational health records are retained for the period prescribed by the applicable rules, which in some cases is measured in decades.
Some processors used in the ordinary operation of the website and messaging — hosting, WhatsApp, Google Fonts, YouTube — may process data outside India. Such transfers are made in accordance with section 16 of the DPDP Act and are limited to what is necessary to operate the service.
Subject to the DPDP Act and to the professional obligations governing clinical records, you may request access to your personal data, correction of inaccurate data, erasure where retention is not required by law, and information about the processing. You may nominate another person to exercise these rights in the event of death or incapacity.
Requests should be sent to dr@therootcausephysician.com. Verification of identity will be required before any clinical information is released.
Please raise any concern with the practice first, at dr@therootcausephysician.com. Complaints are acknowledged and addressed within the timelines prescribed under the DPDP Act.
If the response is unsatisfactory you may escalate to the Data Protection Board of India. Nothing in this policy limits any right you have to complain to a statutory authority or medical council.
This site is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect data from anyone under eighteen. Where a minor is seen clinically, that is arranged through a parent or lawful guardian, whose verifiable consent is obtained as required by section 9 of the DPDP Act.
Reasonable technical and organisational safeguards are applied, proportionate to the nature of the data held. No transmission over the internet or a messaging platform can be guaranteed wholly secure, and messages sent over third-party platforms are subject to the security of those platforms.
This policy may be updated. The version in force is the one published on this page, and the date of last revision is shown above.
By using this website you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, please do not use the site.
Using this website, reading its content, or sending a message through it does not create a doctor–patient relationship. That relationship begins only when a consultation has been arranged and conducted, and it is governed by the professional obligations applicable to medical practice in India.
Everything published here is general information and education. It is not tailored to any individual, has not been written with knowledge of your circumstances, and must not be relied upon as a substitute for professional assessment.
The occupation pages are explicitly illustrative. Actual exposure depends on the workplace, the hours, the duration and the protective measures in place, and nothing on those pages constitutes a finding about any individual, employer or workplace.
This site and its messaging routes are not monitored continuously and must never be used in an emergency. If symptoms are severe, sudden or worsening, contact your nearest hospital or emergency service immediately.
WhatsApp and email are provided for enquiries and scheduling. They are not consultation channels, messages sent through them do not constitute medical advice, and no clinical decision should be made on the basis of anything communicated through them outside a consultation.
You choose whether to use those platforms. Communications over them are subject to the terms and security of the platform provider, and the practice is not responsible for the operation, availability or security of those services.
Fees, durations and available times are confirmed before an appointment is booked. Cancellation and rescheduling terms are notified at the time of booking and form part of the agreement for that consultation.
Remote consultations are conducted in accordance with the applicable telemedicine guidelines. Some assessments cannot be performed remotely, and where an in-person examination is necessary that will be stated rather than worked around.
Medicine deals in probabilities. No representation is made, and none should be inferred from any content on this site, that any particular clinical result will be achieved. Descriptions of method describe how the work is approached, not what it will produce in any individual case.
This site carries no patient testimonials, ratings, before-and-after material or outcome claims. This is deliberate and reflects the professional restrictions on medical advertising in India. Any such material appearing elsewhere under this name is not authorised by the practice.
Links to external sites, including drfunckey.com and YouTube, are provided for convenience. The practice does not control those sites and is not responsible for their content, their accuracy or their privacy practices. Where a commercial or ownership relationship exists with a linked service, it is disclosed at the point of the link.
The text, structure, design and original frameworks on this site are the property of the practice and may not be reproduced commercially without written permission. You may read, print and share pages for personal, non-commercial use with attribution.
The one-page exposure history is offered free for clinical use by any physician, with attribution and without modification of its attribution.
You may not attempt to interfere with the operation or security of this site, extract its content systematically for republication, or use it to send unlawful, abusive or misleading communications.
Content is reviewed periodically but medicine changes, and pages may not reflect the most recent evidence at the moment you read them. The site is provided as it stands and no guarantee is given that it will be available without interruption or free of error.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, liability is excluded for indirect or consequential loss arising from use of this website, from reliance on its general content, or from the unavailability of the site or its messaging routes.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for professional negligence in the provision of clinical services, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded — including rights available to a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Where any provision of these terms is found unenforceable, the remainder continues in effect.
You agree to indemnify the practice against claims arising from your unlawful use of this site or your breach of these terms. This does not apply to any claim arising from the provision of clinical services.
These terms are governed by the laws of India. The courts at Mumbai have jurisdiction, without prejudice to any right you have to bring proceedings before a consumer forum or statutory authority under applicable law.
Concerns about this website or its content should be sent to dr@therootcausephysician.com and will be acknowledged and addressed within the timelines prescribed by applicable law. Complaints regarding clinical care may also be made to the relevant State Medical Council.
These terms may be updated. The version in force is the one published on this page.
Everything on this website is published for general information and education. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a treatment recommendation for any individual. It cannot take account of your history, your examination findings or your investigations, because it was not written with knowledge of any of them.
Always seek the advice of a qualified health professional about a medical condition. Never disregard professional advice, and never delay seeking it, because of something you have read here.
If you are experiencing severe, sudden or worsening symptoms, contact your nearest hospital or emergency service immediately. Do not send a message through this site and wait for a reply.
The occupation content is illustrative. It describes exposures reported in the occupational health literature for categories of work in general. It is not a statement about any individual worker, employer or workplace, it does not establish that any person has been harmed, and it must not be used as evidence of exposure or causation in any proceeding.
Where evidence is contested or incomplete, the content aims to say so. Statements about association are not statements about causation. The presence of a finding is not proof of harm. Medicine changes, and content may not reflect the most recent evidence at the time you read it.
Nothing here should be read as a promise or prediction that any treatment, protocol or approach will produce a particular result. Individual responses differ.
Replies to enquiries sent by WhatsApp or email are administrative. They do not constitute medical advice and must not be relied on as such.
Content on linked sites, including drfunckey.com, is the responsibility of its operators. Links do not imply endorsement of any product, test or service beyond what is expressly stated.
This site should be usable by as many people as possible, including those using screen readers, keyboard navigation, magnification, or reduced-motion settings.
The site aims to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. It has not been independently audited, so this is a statement of intent and effort rather than a certification.
prefers-reduced-motion respected; all animation is disabled when it is set.If any part of this site is difficult to use, please write to dr@therootcausephysician.com describing the page and the difficulty. Information will be provided in an alternative format on request.