[barbegal]

Your terms state that "The services are not medical advice or treatment". If that is the case then this service is operating in a legal grey area where customers could be under the impression that medical advice is being given out and could sue Caelum Health if the diet does have a negative impact on their health. And if the customer knows it isn't medical advice, then they should run the advice past a medical professional on a regular basis which kind of defeats the purpose of the service.

[lukekc]

That language is intended to indicate that we’re not a physician, hospital, drug company, etc. - pretty standard for companies in our space.

But you’re right that, similar to drugs, dieticians, or physical therapy, we’re not a substitute for a doctor - in fact, one of the ways our users find is through referrals from their doctor.

[barbegal]

But unlike FDA approved drugs, registered dietitians and licensed physical therapists your service is not accredited and can't legally give the advice that it claims to give. As an example Ohio state law says that "only licensed dietitians can practice dietetics".

Practising dietetics is defined as including "Nutritional assessment to determine nutritional needs and to recommend appropriate nutritional intake" and "Nutritional counseling or education as components of preventive, curative, and restorative health care"

Either your service isn't doing those things (and outwardly it seems it is) or the service must be provided by a licensed dietitian to customers in Ohio or it is breaking Ohio state law.

[1] http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4759

[lukekc]

We've worked with our lawyers on this topic and so far we're in good shape. But it's definitely something we need to keep an eye on as we introduce new functionality / try out different marketing.