{"id":64,"date":"2026-05-23T11:07:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=64"},"modified":"2026-05-23T11:07:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:07:49","slug":"rfk-jr-and-the-perils-of-peptides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=64","title":{"rendered":"RFK Jr. and the Perils of Peptides"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Journalists are often accused of using the following aphorism to determine the newsworthiness of a story: \u201cOnce an accident. Twice a coincidence. Three times? A trend. Go for it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Censorship at the FDA, CDC<\/a><\/p>\n

Using that habit of mind to drive journalism is a bad idea. People will be misinformed. Using it to drive the practice of medicine is worse because people will get hurt.<\/p>\n

This past weekend, I read a recent story in The New Yorker<\/em> about \u201cthe seductive world of unapproved peptides,\u201d written by Dhruv Khullar, an outstanding medical journalist. The physician-writer visited several clinics run by board-certified physicians pushing these protein snippets on gullible people looking to heal ailing muscles, improve memory, and live longer lives, among other alleged benefits.<\/p>\n

The testimonials offered by physicians promoting various peptides defied every standard of medical evidence developed since Founding Father Benjamin Rush gave up bloodletting. Charleston, South Carolina\u2019s Craig Koniver, trained in family medicine, called one peptide\u2014BPC-157, used for tissue healing\u2014\u201csupersafe\u201d and said \u201calmost everyone I could think of\u201d will benefit from it. A few paragraphs later, he says, \u201cI\u2019m not a big vaccine guy. A lot of them don\u2019t have the data.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the data behind BPC-157? There are exactly two clinical trials for that peptide in the federal government\u2019s clinical trials database. One is an early-stage safety trial of unknown scope and status that is taking place in Tijuana. The second is an efficacy study based in Shenzhen, China, which is still recruiting patients. Vaccines, on the other hand, have undergone extensive testing and they\u2019ve gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, which means there are reams of data documenting both their safety and efficacy.<\/p>\n

Koniver goes on to say \u201canecdotal data means a lot to me. Two days after a vaccine, someone has a stroke. Two days later they\u2019re dead \u2026 You see enough of that, it makes an impression.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no shortage among his 1,000 patients, who pay $15,000 a year for the services of his concierge medical practice (it doesn\u2019t take insurance), willing to attest to peptides\u2019 benefits. After all, wait long enough and most tissue tears eventually heal. Koniver has 6,000 people on his waiting list.<\/p>\n

Many of the people lining up to spend their hard-earned money on peptides may have heard the siren call of the ultimate peptide guru, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who sits atop the Health and Human Services Department. Kennedy frequently claims he\u2019s benefited from injecting peptides to cure injuries sustained during body-building exercises.<\/p>\n

He appeared earlier this year on the Joe Rogan podcast (the world\u2019s most popular with 11 million listeners). Rogan frequently touts peptides on his show. The field also received an unexpected boost from the FDA\u2019s approval of semaglutide, a peptide for diabetes and weight loss (brand names: Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound). If that one works, won\u2019t they all?<\/p>\n

Read more Profiting From Inflated Hospital Prices<\/a><\/p>\n

Semaglutide is the exception, not the rule when it comes to data on peptides. There is almost no evidence beyond individual anecdotes that most of the peptides now in circulation, produced primarily by compounding pharmacies, actually benefit patients or are safe.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Kennedy removed the limited regulation of unapproved peptides that had been put in place during the Biden administration because their manufacturers failed to submit data to the FDA proving they could be safety injected in patients. The Kennedy reversal hurled peptides back into the regulatory vacuum enjoyed by dietary supplements, where the only rules that apply involve purity (does it contain what it claims to contain?) and a ban on making medical claims (which is routinely violated by industry advertising).<\/p>\n

Good data on peptides, whether for efficacy or safety, requires someone conducting randomized clinical trials that test whether the products are better than a placebo or the current standard of care. The tests need to be in a sufficiently large population to show statistical significance in any outcomes differences between the two groups. Absent clinical proof of efficacy in such trials, there will only be the risk of harm or unpleasant side effects.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration upheld evidence-based medicine when it required most peptides undergo such tests. The Trump administration, via Kennedy, opted instead to allow money-hungry physicians and compounding pharmacies to conduct what amounts to an uncontrolled science experiment on gullible Americans, where no one takes a measure of the outcomes except the individuals and families who will be harmed both physically and financially.<\/p>\n

The peptide craze is following the same trajectory as the anti-vaccination movement (also championed by Kennedy); the evisceration of National Institutes of Health research into the many social causes of disease; and the degradation of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s ability to promote population health. It is anti-science\u2014pitch perfect for a society addicted to addictions\u2014promoted by someone who admits he once snorted cocaine off a toilet seat, and who now jabs needles in his body in the evidence-free pursuit of faster healing and better health.<\/p>\n

Peptide proponents claim it is their right to try unapproved substances based on claims made by family, friends, or their concierge physician. \u201cIt\u2019s my body. I willingly take the risk. Whom else does it harm?\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, everyone. Who pays when you end up in the hospital and rack up huge treatment bills? Two people fell desperately ill during a Las Vegas \u201canti-aging\u201d event after injecting peptides and had to be intubated. Widespread allergic reactions to the shots, some of which were life-threatening, forced regulators in Australia to issue a safety alert. Health Canada has issued a warning that unauthorized peptides can cause blood clots and liver and kidney damage.<\/p>\n

The U.S. used to have a regulatory agency that the rest of the world awarded a gold medal to for its management of the entry of medical products into the marketplace. Today, under this government, it isn\u2019t even in the race.<\/p>\n

Read more Ted Turner\u2019s Beef With Big Media<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Health and Human Services Secretary\u2019s push to deregulate unapproved peptides will inevitably lead to worse health outcomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,16,19,2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-foreign-policy","category-health-care","category-newsletter","category-politics","category-the-monopolized-economy"],"yoast_head":"\nRFK Jr. and the Perils of Peptides - USA Business Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usabusinesschronicle.com\/?p=64\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RFK Jr. and the Perils of Peptides - 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