Rogue Melbourne medical clinics one-stop shops for steroids, bootleg Ozempic

Several rogue medical clinics in Melbourne have become one-stop shops for steroids and diet drugs as organised crime gangs look to cash in on the supplements boom.

Rogue clinics have been busted dishing out prescriptions for steroids and imitation Ozempic. Picture: Supplied

Rogue medical clinics – some linked to organised crime – have become one-stop shops for steroids, bootleg Ozempic diet drugs and medicinal cannabis.

The Herald Sun can reveal that the nation’s peak health regulator has a number of investigations, many of which involve allegations of multiple practitioners abusing online prescribing while operating across state lines to cash in on the supplements boom.

There have been cases of health clinics dishing out prescriptions without even speaking to patients.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority has run inquiries into at least 10 unregistered practitioners who have no medical qualifications, including some accused of falsely claiming to be doctors or nurses, as part of suspected supplement rackets.

The agency has an unprecedented number of cases on its books of suspect prescribing of everything from human growth hormone to imitation Ozempic weight-loss products from the semaglutide family.

Rogue clinics are prescribing everything from human growth hormone to imitation Ozempic products.

Some operators have come under investigation by Victoria Police, including detectives from the anti-organised crime Echo Taskforce.

AHPRA has suspended or placed conditions on more than 20 practitioners’ registrations in the past two years while they are examined.

Its current investigations include:

• 32 inquiries related to the prescribing or dispensing of human growth hormone or testosterone.

•15 open matters examining the prescribing of semaglutide-like weight loss products.

• A record 63 probes into the prescription of medicinal cannabis since July last year.

Most of the notifications which come the authority’s way relate to claims that prescriptions had been issued without proper assessment of a patient.

That had led to claims of “poor outcomes” and cases where conventional treatments would have been better or should have been tried first.

A lack of “meaningful patient management” had led to repeat prescriptions instead of continued assessment or treatment.

In some cases, patients get the drug they are after by entering false information into assessment models.

In some instances doctors have dished out prescriptions without even consulting patients.

AHPRA says some practitioners are alleged to have prescribed large quantities of treatment, in some cases medicinal cannabis.

There have been instances of a range of products, delivery methods and potencies being offered so patients can find what is the “best fit” for them.

Some men have suffered serious health issues such as infertility after being treated by unregistered practitioners who promote themselves as scientists or biochemists.

“We receive complaints from registered practitioners or concerned family members trying to help patients deal with these consequences,” the AHPRA statement said.

AHPRA and the National Boards do not have power to regulate activities of those not claiming to be health practitioners and those cases are referred to other bodies.

There has been a surge in demand for the supply of semaglutide-like products like Ozempic in recent years.

Several practitioners are being investigated for abusing online prescribing services to cash in on the supplements boom. Picture: iStock

Compounding pharmacies will be banned from dispensing them from October this year.

Telehealth appointments – where doctor visits are made via video call or automatic tick-box assessment systems – have emerged as a factor in the trade.

An AHPRA statement said while the organisation accepted the value of telehealth, it was concerned that some operators exploited them to avoid established safety practices.

“We see practitioners offering health services via telehealth, often with computer or algorithm-based prescribing of medicines, as well as physical clinics set up as a one-stop shop to prescribe and dispense single medications,” the statement said.

AHPRA declined to comment on specific cases but there have been a number of major police investigations centred on the supply of supplements in Victoria in recent years.

State and Federal police are believed to have made a number of referrals to the authority as a result of operations targeting clinics.

It is not known whether there has been a referral to AHPRA after a major police raid on the Melbourne Sports Medicine and Anti-Aging clinic raid in March this year.

Steroids, human growth hormones, peptides and millions of dollars worth of luxury cars were seized after police swooped on the Moonee Ponds business.

Pharmacist Nima Alavi, once linked to the Essendon Football Club supplements scandal, was under AHPRA investigation at the time of his death in January this year.