The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that it will allow six popular but unproven and unapproved peptides to be sold and otherwise available without threat of federal enforcement actions, bypassing U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a strong proponent of peptides, which he has used to treat his own injuries, called the action a draft “enforcement discretion policy.” The announcement said the reasons for the decision are safety and freedom.
The six peptides, discussed at a FDA advisory committee meeting in July 2026, are BPC-157, Epitalon, KPV, MOTS-c, Semax, and TB-500. Compounding pharmacies will be able to make the six peptides available by prescription.
“Apparently frustrated because the agency stood firm against his nonsensical pledge to end the FDA’s ‘war on peptides,’ Secretary Kennedy has acted recklessly and unilaterally to put Americans in danger,” Robert Steinbrook, M.D., health research group director at Public Citizen, a public interest group, said in a statement. “Kennedy has no scientific or medical qualifications.”
Steinbrook said by allowing unproven and potentially unsafe peptides to be manufactured, marketed, and prescribed without concern about potential federal enforcement actions, Kennedy has undermined the FDA and threatened public health.
“All peptide substances should go through the standard FDA approval process for new drugs,” he said. “The HHS Secretary should support, not sabotage, needed FDA enforcement actions to protect consumers.”
Steinbrook said health care providers need to ask their patients about peptide use and counsel them about the risks, which include contamination, impurities, unknown adverse effects, as well as on the dangers of relying on the opinions of online influencers as opposed to medical evidence.
“This is a sad day for the FDA and for public health,” he said.
