PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Valley health experts are sounding the alarm after a federal advisory panel narrowly voted to recommend expanding access to six peptide compounds, moving the substances one step closer to legal sale at specialty compounding pharmacies despite what some doctors say is a critical lack of human safety data.
Dr. Harmeet Narula, an endocrinologist at Banner Health, said the vote raises serious questions about whether the science has kept pace with the demand.
“We need data in humans to show these drugs actually work and are safe. So, that’s a concern,” Narula said.
Narula pointed out that even FDA career scientists, the agency’s own reviewers, recommended against lifting the restrictions at this time, making the advisory panel’s decision all the more striking.
“If you’re injecting something, you want to make sure — A, it’s safe, B, it works,” Narula said.
FDA reverses course after 2023 ban
The FDA first placed the compounds on a restricted list in 2023, citing safety and efficacy concerns. Now, three years later, a federal advisory panel has voted following a two-day meeting to recommend that specialty compounding pharmacies be allowed to legally mix and sell them, a reversal that has caught the attention of Valley medical professionals.
Demand surges across the Valley
The push for expanded access comes as peptides — short chains of amino acids — have exploded in popularity across the country and here in the Valley.
Promoted online for uses ranging from weight loss and injury recovery to immune support, the compounds have moved from social media feeds into local medical clinics, where providers say they can barely keep up.
“Every day we get pinged on the internet, you know, through our contact form on the website. There’s all kinds of people that are asking about peptides,” said Mark Stewart, owner of Gameday Men’s Health.
For Valley patient Frank Peake, the experience has been personal. Peake said peptide injections have delivered results he wasn’t finding elsewhere.
“I’ve had a phenomenal experience with the peptides that I’ve used. I’ve been taking them for weight loss, muscle growth, and general health,” Peake said.
Final decision rests with FDA and HHS
Despite the advisory panel’s recommendation, the vote is non-binding. The final decision on whether to allow compounding pharmacies to mix and sell the six compounds rests with the FDA and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, meaning the debate over the future of peptides is far from settled.
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