Federal health officials are preparing to hold a major review of controversial peptide drugs next month, but the expert panel assembled for the meeting looks very different from those that came before it — and that has some people talking.
The Food and Drug Administration released its list of panelists Monday for an upcoming two-day meeting aimed at reconsidering the safety and effectiveness of several widely used peptide injections, including some that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly endorsed.
Past FDA panels on this subject were made up primarily of academics and researchers from universities. The newly assembled group, however, is largely composed of health professionals who have a direct financial stake in the peptide industry — people who prescribe, manufacture, or actively promote these substances.
The meeting is being seen as the latest move by Kennedy and his team to reshape federal health policy in line with the Make America Healthy Again movement. Several prominent backers of that movement are involved in selling peptide products, even though many pharmaceutical experts classify them as illegal, unapproved drugs.
These substances are widely sold online and marketed through wellness clinics as tools for building muscle, speeding up injury recovery, and slowing the aging process — despite limited scientific evidence to back up those claims. Sellers frequently sidestep federal regulations by labeling their products as being “for research use only,” since the FDA does not regulate research chemicals.
A large portion of the injectable peptides available in the United States are produced by compounding pharmacies — specialized operations that create custom medications not offered by conventional drug manufacturers.
For years, the FDA has cautioned Americans about the dangers of injecting compounds such as BPC-157 and TB-500, neither of which has been thoroughly studied in human subjects. Both are classified as doping substances by international sports governing bodies. They are among seven peptides scheduled for review in July.
Earlier versions of the FDA’s drug compounding panel — the same body that will convene next month — had consistently voted against allowing peptide ingredients proposed by compounding pharmacies, determining each time that the risks to patients were too great. Those earlier panels were largely drawn from experts at institutions including Duke, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins.
The current panel includes more than half a dozen members who operate clinics, online businesses, or pharmacies that specialize in peptides. These substances are frequently offered alongside other unapproved treatments such as vitamin infusions.
Among the panelists is Dr. Haleem Mohammed, who runs clinics in Florida offering peptide injections, vitamins, testosterone, and weight loss medications as part of a national clinic chain called Gameday Men’s Health. The company’s own website acknowledges that “compounded medications offered through our services are not FDA-approved, and the FDA does not verify their safety.”
Another panelist, Dr. Gabriel Alizaidy, charges $500 for consultations on “peptide and hormone” topics, including guidance on “where to safely get each peptide or compound.” He promotes BPC-157, GHK-Cu, and other peptides to thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok. His website notes that each consultation “is educational in nature and does not constitute medical care, diagnosis, or treatment.”
A third member of the panel is Bobby Harshbarger, a Tennessee state senator with several connections to the compounding pharmacy industry. Harshbarger works as a pharmacist at his family’s business, Premiere Pharmacy, which sells compounded medications for conditions ranging from weight loss and pain to longevity.
His mother, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, is also a licensed pharmacist and a Republican member of Congress from Tennessee. Last year, she wrote to Kennedy urging him to ease FDA restrictions on a half-dozen peptides.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly praised Rep. Harshbarger’s backing of his agenda. Last year, the president pardoned her husband, Robert Harshbarger Jr., who had pleaded guilty more than a decade ago to substituting an unapproved drug from China for one used by kidney dialysis patients. He lost his pharmacy license and served a four-year prison sentence.
The Associated Press reached out to Mohammed, Alizaidy, and Bobby Harshbarger for comment Monday afternoon, but none responded.
The FDA maintains more than 30 advisory panels that provide guidance on drugs, vaccines, food ingredients, and other products. These meetings follow strict federal transparency rules regarding panel composition and financial disclosures. Panelists with financial ties to an industry may participate, but those relationships must be publicly disclosed, and regulators are required to explain why a person’s expertise justifies their involvement despite any potential conflict of interest.
Kennedy and his allies have frequently attacked federal advisory panels, claiming they are riddled with conflicts of interest — even as federal data has generally shown otherwise. Last year, Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with individuals who include several voices skeptical of vaccines. A federal judge later said that move likely broke federal rules.
Earlier this year, Kennedy told podcast host Joe Rogan that he is “a big fan of peptides” and said he has used them to recover from injuries.
Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who stepped down in May, was also a critic of the agency’s advisory panel system, calling the meetings costly, slow, and too susceptible to financial conflicts. The number of such meetings dropped sharply during his time in the role. In their place, the FDA held a series of informal gatherings with hand-selected experts on subjects aligned with Kennedy’s priorities, including the risks associated with talc powder and antidepressants.
