Risk of criminal penalties for online peptides customers

A summer obsession with bigger muscles, flatter stomachs and deeper tans may carry the sting of criminal penalties.

People who bought peptide hormones through ­Australia’s largest online seller are at risk of prosecution for drug offences.

A summer obsession with bigger muscles, flatter stomachs and deeper tans may carry the sting of criminal penalties, as Federal Court documents reveal body-conscious people who bought peptide hormones through ­Australia’s largest online seller are at risk of prosecution for drug offences.

Nearly six years after the ­Essendon and Cronulla football club drug scandals lifted the lid on the murky supply of peptides and other performance and image-­enhancing products through unregulated websites, the Depart­ment of Health has initiated legal action to rein in a trade in potentially harmful substances not ­approved for human use.

Health Department secretary Glynis Beauchamp has launched commercial proceedings against Sydney-based company Peptide Clinics, which sells peptide treatments that variously claim to build muscles, repair injury, reduce fat, prolong sex, prevent hair loss, improve mental health and stop the effects of ageing.

The company is owned by Sydney pharmacist Ian Abrams. Its sole director and company secretary is 28-year-old Courtney Chircop, a former teenage model who came to prominence 10 years ago as a finalist in the Seven Network reality TV show Make Me a Supermodel.

Both declined to comment to The Australian about the case.

The company has operated since 2013, the year the AFL, the NRL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority were plunged into crisis following an Australian Crime Commission examination of the links between organised crime, professional sports and performance enhancing drugs.

An expose by The Australian in 2015 revealed how Peptide Clinics used sham medical consultations to circumvent federal regulations that stipulate peptide hormones classed as Schedule 4 poisons can only be legally supplied with a doctor’s prescription. Under the business model, customers who filled out a basic, online medical questionnaire received peptides by mail order, complete with ­syringes and alcohol swabs, without talking to a doctor or being ­issued with a script.

The company claimed a doctor reviewed each order and questionnaire and issued the script direct to a compounding pharma­cist. A subsequent investigation by the Therapeutic Goods Administration led to the Federal Court action.

“The use of PIEDS and other prescription-only therapeutic goods purchased through websites and other social media platforms may result in serious harm to consumers’ health and safety, particularly where the products are not used with appropriate medical supervision,’’ a TGA spokesman said.

“The TGA continually advises consumers to exercise extreme caution when purchasing PIEDS or any other medicines from an internet-based trading platform, particularly if the supplier does not require a prescription which would normally be required for the medicine in Australia.

“Where consumers purchase these medicines over the internet, there is no guarantee of their quality or safety.’’

In court documents lodged last month, the Health Department accused Peptide Clinics of breaching the Therapeutic Goods Act by advertising Schedule 4 poisons, making prohibited claims about their health benefits and misleading consumers about the safety of some substances.

“The advertisements contained claims, statements and implications that the advertised products are safe or, alternatively, cannot cause harm, when in fact they are not safe and can cause harm,’’ it said.

The department warned the company’s marketing material misled people into thinking the peptides were being dispensed with a script and under medical supervision when they were not.

It further warned customers who bought substances such as the growth hormone-releasing peptides used by Cronulla players, CJC-1295 or GHRP-6, or the failed fat-burner used at Essendon, AOD 9604, without a lawful prescription were in possession of illicit drugs.

“By supplying those advertised products that are listed in Appendix D of the current poisons standard to consumers without providing the consumers with a prescription, not informing consumers that the products cannot be lawfully possessed without a prescription, the respondent exposes consumers to the risk of prosecution,’’ the department said.

Appendix D is a list of Schedule 4 poisons that are subject to further controls. The list includes CJC-1295 and GHRP-6, the two peptides injected into Cronulla’s first grade team during 2011 under the supervision of biochemist Stephen Dank.

A NSW Supreme Court jury found in 2016 the use of these substances hastened the death of former Cronulla player Jon Mannah. Mannah was in remission from cancer when he was injected with the peptides.

Mr Dank is banned from working in any sport that is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code. He filed for bankruptcy last year and was last seen working in an anti-ageing clinic in Darwin.

He admitted under oath to overseeing administration of CJC-1295 and GHRP-6 at Cronulla but disputed they were banned at the time.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport found Mr Dank in 2012 ­administered another banned peptide, Thymosin Beta-4, to 34 Essendon footballers.

The Health Department case against Peptide Clinics is due to return to court in Sydney in February. Federal Court judge Jayne Jagot this month issued interim orders requiring the company to cease advertising Schedule 4 poisons and to take down any claims or inferences that its peptide treatments cannot cause harm and may improve mental health.

The company is yet to file a formal response to the court. However, in an email to customers issued last week, it announced a change to its business model that would now require anyone buying peptides to undergo an online consultation with a doctor.

“The Peptide Clinics model will be completely revamped for 2019,’’ the company said. “We have to do so in order to comply with the TGA’s interpretation of the advertising guidelines. Please note that the TGA will force all other peptide suppliers to comply with the same restrictions and process; we will be setting a new benchmark for the industry, as we have done since inception.

“From December 21st you will no longer be able to purchase peptides online as you have done in the past. Instead you will need to book a free (for existing ­patients) 15-min consultation with one of our doctors (through the website), who will then issue your peptide prescription (if ­appropriate).’’

The peptides most commonly sold by Peptides Clinics do not have TGA approval for use in ­humans but under a loophole in the regulatory framework they can be legally dispensed by compounding pharmacists. They are not proven to benefit health or fitness and the side-effects of prolonged use are largely unknown.