Hi Shopify community.
Question (which I posted yesterday and received the canned response)
Why does the Shopify Dietary Supplement answer ignore the Shopify Supplement reality?
The question was can I start a new dietary supp business with Shop payments?
The answer was, "we're not lawyers but, no of course not, 'pseudo-pharmaceuticals' are verboten unless/until the FDA (lol, good one) approves them/
The reality:
While I'm not a lawyer either, few potential holes in your answer, of course. Notably would be the scores of stores selling what would appear to be far from 'pseudo' profits for you and them nor -pseudo-satisfaction for the millions of buyers. Their existence I suppose trumps my question. Unless you're suggesting that the supplement industry is akin to religion existing without a shred of science yet demands loyalty? Forget the studies that support supplements, reference one that doesn't. Other than the FDA naturally.
Curiously, would Harvard Health, the NHIH (National Institutes of Health.gov) or more digitally-centric, WEBMD and the legions of actual MD's who vocally concur with the myriad of studies proving and endorsing what the actual-pharmaceutical industry would never do? Which is to say, accept that a millennia's worth of data and billions of people who use and rely on such natural substances with nary a lethal side effect cannot possibly be wrong? Remedies which of course cannot be patented such as Ashwagandha, brown seaweed, Chromium, Glucomannan, Saffron, Vitamin's D, B, K, Zinc etc and therefore cannot be justified in spending one billion dollars to patent a drug we can buy at the local CVS?
Or, judging by the volume of shopify supplement stores should we just assume 'if we don't start no trouble then we won't have no trouble'? And everyone just buys, sells and facilitates transactions of consenting products between consenting adults?
How do you reconcile your answer given the stores that sell supplements? Or is it akin to the US marijuana policy which is State-approved in all it's pseudo-glory yet Federally criminal and hence shopify's official legal position? In that light, shouldn't your answer end in a 'wink'?
Shouldn't shopify's response be more akin to FDA labeling requirements which are wholly and unilaterally label-based re claims and supported studies? Does Ashwagandha 'support' stress relief? Or will Ashwagandha make you 'stress-free'? Two very different claims. One is supported by virtually every Doctor on the planet. The other is fraudulent.
It's 2024 yet that answer seems like it's from the dark ages. The planet, its population and science are all evolving except for the acceptance of the supplement industry by the very gate-keepers who will never profit from it and worse will erode their iron grip on 'out-curing' it so why should they approve it? I don't imagine I'd be in a rush to approve saffron for anything other than paella if I was in big pharma, would you? Yes there are bad actors who promote bad products which are harmful to one's health so shouldn't shopify approval be formula or clinically-proven on a case by case basis? It takes more work but I think you'll find the people who seek alternative help and treatment as compliment to traditional medicine and who come to shopify for accessible answers are worth it.
It would seem to me that the pseudo-pharma industry exists in a black hole where bc drug co.'s will never approve drugs they can't sell and hence the FDA will never bother acknowledging a formula the drugs co.'s don't need them to, then when will the supplement industry ever evolve for the people who rely on affordable, efficient, safe access to clinically-proven supplements? And on those great co.'s who make access to such hope at the tips of their fingers? Obviously we need you more than you need us but they need us also.
Just a thought,
