Terms and conditions

These terms apply to everyone who uses Herb Dispenser: practitioners who open an account and order formulas, and patients who pay for, receive or reorder a formula. By creating an account, placing or paying for an order, or using our website or ordering system, you agree to them. If you don't agree, please don't use the service.

Our shipping policy, privacy policy and cookie policy are part of these terms.

1. Who we are

Herb Dispenser is operated by 1591659 Ontario Corp. o/a Herb Dispenser ("Herb Dispenser", "we", "us"), 213 Queensway S., Unit 400, Keswick, Ontario L4P 0A2, Canada. You can reach us through our contact form or at 905-535-0908.

2. Definitions

• Practitioner: a qualified health practitioner who has registered and been approved to order through Herb Dispenser.
• Patient: a person for whom a practitioner orders a formula, including a parent or guardian acting for a minor.
• Formula: a custom granule or tincture preparation that we dispense to a practitioner's specification for a named patient, including granules in capsules.
• Ordering system: the formula builder, practitioner account and patient account at herbdispenser.dispensarytree.com, provided to us by Dispensary Tree.
• Refill: a repeat order of the same formula that a practitioner has authorized the patient to place.

3. Practitioner accounts

3.1 Who can register

To open a practitioner account you must:

• be at least 18;
• hold a current licence, registration or recognized credential in a health discipline that uses herbal medicine, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, naturopathy or herbalism;
• be allowed by the laws where you practise to recommend or prescribe herbal products to patients; and
• diagnose and prescribe on your own. We don't help choose formulas.

3.2 Verification

We verify each practitioner's credentials before they can order, and we may ask for proof of credentials, professional standing or identity at any time. We may refuse or suspend an account if verification isn't satisfactory.

3.3 Keeping your account secure

Keep your login details confidential. You are responsible for everything done through your account. If you think someone has used it without permission, tell us right away through our contact form or by phone. If you register on behalf of a clinic or professional corporation, you confirm that you have authority to bind it.

3.4 The account is free

There is no fee to open or keep a practitioner account. You pay only for the orders you pay for yourself.

4. Ordering formulas

4.1 What an order must include

Each order must name the patient and give the herbs and quantities, the form (granules, capsules or tincture), the dosage and instructions, and any known allergies or sensitivities you want on record.

4.2 Your clinical responsibility

You alone decide whether a formula is appropriate, safe and correctly dosed for your patient. We prepare formulas exactly as ordered and do not review or approve clinical decisions. We are not responsible for errors that come from incorrect or incomplete information in an order. Nothing we provide is medical or clinical advice.

4.3 When an order is accepted

An order is accepted when it has been paid and we confirm it through the ordering system or by email. We may decline any order, for example when we can't source an ingredient or an order looks unsafe or wrong, and we refund any payment for a declined order.

4.4 Unavailable ingredients

If an ingredient is unavailable, we'll tell you. We never substitute an ingredient without your approval.

4.5 Changes and cancellations

Contact us as soon as possible if an order needs to change. Once we have started preparing a formula, it usually can't be changed or cancelled, because it is made for one patient.

5. Refills

When you allow refills for a patient, you set how many, how often and until when. By allowing them you confirm that the formula remains appropriate for that patient for the refill period, and you authorize us to fill refill orders from that patient without asking you each time. You can change or cancel refills at any time in your account; changes apply to future orders, not ones already being prepared. Keeping refill settings current is your responsibility.

6. Markups and billing your patients

You may add a markup to formulas you order for patients. When the patient pays us, the markup is part of the price they pay. You are responsible for charging your patients fairly and lawfully and for any taxes or professional rules that apply to what you charge.

7. Patients

• Only a practitioner can order a new formula. Patients can pay for orders placed for them and order refills their practitioner has allowed.
• Questions about what is in your formula, the dose, or how you're responding go to your practitioner. We dispense what your practitioner prescribes and can't give clinical advice.
• Follow the label and your practitioner's instructions. Keep formulas out of reach of children.
• A parent or legal guardian manages the account and payments for a patient under 18 and accepts these terms on the minor's behalf.
• Keep your patient account login confidential. You are responsible for activity in your account.

8. Prices, payment and taxes

• Prices are shown in the ordering system in Canadian dollars, and they may change. The price that applies is the one shown when the order is paid.
• We accept major credit cards. Practitioners may also pay by Interac e-Transfer.
• Payment is due before we prepare an order. By paying, you authorize us to charge the full amount to the payment method you provide, and you confirm you are entitled to use it.
• Applicable Canadian taxes, such as HST, are added as required by law.
• Raise any billing question or dispute in writing within 30 days of the charge. Please contact us before disputing a charge with your card issuer.
• Card payments are handled by our payment processor. We don't see or store full card numbers.

9. Shipping, pickup and returns

Our shipping policy covers where we ship, costs, timing, pickup, lost or damaged parcels, and returns. In short: formulas are made for one patient, so they can't be returned or refunded, unless we made an error or the formula arrives damaged or defective.

We currently ship to Canada and most other countries. Shipping to the United States is paused.

10. Regulatory status of formulas

Formulas are custom preparations made to a practitioner's prescription for an individual patient. They are not licensed natural health products and do not carry a Natural Product Number (NPN) or Drug Identification Number (DIN). Herb Dispenser is not a licensed manufacturer under Health Canada's Natural Health Products Regulations. Practitioners are responsible for meeting the rules of their own profession and jurisdiction when prescribing formulas. Recipients outside Canada are responsible for making sure a formula may be imported where they live.

11. Practitioner obligations

Practitioners agree to:

• order formulas only for the care of a named patient;
• not resell or redistribute formulas outside their own practice;
• give patients the information they need to use a formula safely, including dosage, possible interactions and when to stop and seek help;
• carry appropriate professional liability insurance;
• tell us promptly about any adverse reaction or product complaint involving a formula we dispensed;
• provide accurate information and not misuse the ordering system or anyone else's account.

12. Patient information

Practitioners confirm that they have their patients' consent to share the information we need to prepare, label, bill and ship each order, and that they share no more than that. Where a practitioner is a health information custodian under Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), we act as their agent for patient information and use it only to fill orders and run the service. Our privacy policy explains how we handle personal information.

13. Email and text messages

We send messages needed to run your account and orders, such as invoices, payment links, order and shipping notices. We send promotional messages only with your consent, as Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) requires, and every one includes a way to unsubscribe.

14. The ordering system

The ordering system is provided to us by Dispensary Tree. We work to keep it available and secure but can't promise it will always be uninterrupted or error-free. We may change or replace the ordering system, and we will give reasonable notice of material changes.

15. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

Except as stated in these terms, the website, ordering system and formulas are provided "as is". We do not promise any particular therapeutic result from a formula. Clinical decisions, and their outcomes, belong to the prescribing practitioner.

To the extent the law allows, our total liability for any claim relating to an order is limited to the amount paid for that order. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost profits or lost data.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for negligence causing death or personal injury or for fraud. Nothing limits any right a consumer has under Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 or other consumer protection laws that cannot be waived.

16. Indemnity (practitioners)

Practitioners agree to indemnify Herb Dispenser against claims, losses and reasonable legal costs arising from their prescribing decisions, errors in their orders, refills they authorized, their breach of these terms, or their breach of the law.

17. Suspending or closing accounts

You can close your account at any time by writing to us. Orders already being prepared will still be completed and charged. We may suspend or close an account if the terms are breached, if we believe the account is being used fraudulently or unsafely, or if a practitioner's credentials lapse or are suspended. Payment obligations and records we must keep by law survive closure.

18. Intellectual property

The Herb Dispenser name, logo and website content belong to us. Practitioners keep ownership of the logo they upload and allow us to print it on their patients' labels.

19. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows when they last changed. For material changes we will notify account holders by email or in the ordering system. Changes apply to orders placed after they take effect.

20. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. If a dispute arises, contact us first; we'll try in good faith to resolve it within 30 days. Otherwise, the courts of Ontario sitting in Toronto have jurisdiction, subject to any right a consumer has to bring a claim where they live.

21. General

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies. Not enforcing a right at one time does not waive it. These terms, with the policies linked above, are the whole agreement between us about the service. The parties have agreed that these terms be drawn up in English. Les parties ont convenu que les présentes conditions soient rédigées en anglais.

22. Contact

1591659 Ontario Corp. o/a Herb Dispenser
213 Queensway S., Unit 400, Keswick, Ontario L4P 0A2, Canada
Contact form · 905-535-0908