RFK Jr. wants Americans to use peptides that were banned over safety risks

Summary

Anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing the Food and Drug Administration to lift restrictions on over a dozen injectable peptide treatments. These treatments have little to no efficacy data behind them and were previously banned by the FDA for posing significant safety risks.

The FDA is reportedly planning to allow compounding pharmacies to make 14 currently restricted peptides. The treatments have become extremely popular among wellness influencers, celebrities, and "biohackers," who claim without evidence that peptides can treat various diseases, reverse aging, and improve appearance.

Experts note there are no randomized controlled trial data to prove that any of these peptides work. Safety concerns include impurities from gray- or black-market products, random dose sizes, and combinations of unproven peptides. Peptides that stimulate growth have the potential to spur cancers, and others may cause hormonal imbalances. Last year, two women became critically ill after receiving peptide injections at an anti-aging conference in Las Vegas.

The data on these peptides is "just woefully minuscule," according to Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. "It's a mess, because we don't have any data that these work. Maybe one of them actually does something good. But right now, we just know that they're a liability."