A
consumer
watchdog
group
is
demanding
that
the
HHS
Office
of
Inspector
General
(OIG)
look
into
potential
conflicts
of
interest
among
members
of
an
FDA
advisory
committee
that
recommended
that
six
peptides
be
added
to
the
list
of
substances
that
can
be
compounded,
despite
a
lack
of
evidence
of
their
efficacy.
“Several
members
of
the
2026
Pharmacy
Compounding
Advisory
Committee
(PCAC)
appear
to
have
had
disqualifying
financial
interests
in
the
pharmaceutical
and
peptide
industries
at
the
time
of
the
July
23-24,
2026,
meeting
related
to
peptide
therapies,”
Kedric
Payne,
vice
president
and
general
counsel
at
the
Campaign
Legal
Center,
and
Margaret
Dylus-Yukins,
the
group’s
senior
legal
counsel
for
ethics,
wrote
last
week
in
a
letter
to
HHS
Inspector
General
T.
March
Bell.
“Despite
publicly
available
information
to
the
contrary,
the
FDA
Office
of
Ethics
and
Integrity
(OEI)
found
that
none
of
the
2026
PCAC
members
had
any
conflicts
of
interest
and
allowed
them
to
participate
in
the
meeting
without
ethics
waivers,”
they
added.
“The
Campaign
Legal
Center
asks
that
HHS
OIG
investigate
FDA
OEI’s
ethics
decisions
and
determine
if
the
2026
PCAC
members
violated
criminal
ethics
laws
by
participating
in
the
meeting
without
waivers
in
place.”
The
letter,
which
was
first
reported
by
the
Washington
Post,
comes
about
3
weeks
after
a
2-day
PCAC
meeting
in
which
members
were
asked
whether
they
would
recommend
adding
seven
specific
peptides
to
the
list
of
substances
that
can
be
compounded.
Throughout
the
meeting,
FDA
staff
members
noted
that
the
peptides
“were
not
well
characterized”
in
their
chemical
makeup
and
didn’t
have
credible
studies
showing
that
they
were
safe
and
effective.
By
the
end
of
the
meeting,
the
committee
had
voted
to
recommend
six
peptides
—
BPC-157,
KPV,
TB-500,
MOTS-c,
epitalon,
and
semax
—
and
against
recommending
only
one,
emideltide.
An
additional
five
peptides
will
be
considered
when
PCAC
reconvenes
in
early
2027,
according
to
an
announcement
during
the
second
day
of
the
meeting.
The
FDA
is
not
required
to
follow
its
advisory
committees’
recommendations,
but
often
does.
At
least
seven
committee
members
had
financial
interests
in
the
peptide
and
pharmaceutical
industries,
the
Campaign
Legal
Center
said
in
its
letter,
including:
Asare
Christian,
MD,
MPH:
Christian
is
the
founder
and
medical
director
of
Aether
Medicine,
“a
boutique
longevity
and
regenerative
practice,”
which
advertises
BPC-157
and
TB-500
on
its
website.
Gabriel
Alizaidy,
MD,
MS:
Alizaidy
is
scientific
director
of
Maximus
Health,
described
as
an
online
pharmacy
specializing
in
peptides.
“Maximus
Health
publicly
advertises
its
robust
peptide
business,
and
the
company’s
website
includes
multiple
articles
discussing
FDA
oversight
of
the
peptide
industry,”
Payne
and
Dylus-Yukins
noted.
Those
articles
include
some
by
Alizaidy
discussing
the
compounding
committee
and
its
impact
on
the
industry,
but
Alizaidy
does
not
mention
he
is
a
committee
member.
Kris
Wusterhausen,
DO:
Wusterhausen
is
founder
and
medical
director
of
the
Resurge
Clinic,
a
wellness
clinic
specializing
in
hormone
and
peptide
treatments,
which
“promotes
a
‘complete
guide’
to
peptide
therapy
for
patients
on
its
website,”
the
letter
said,
adding
that
Wusterhausen
says
on
his
resumé
that
he
is
a
national
faculty
member
of
Biote,
“through
which
he
develops
and
delivers
lectures
on
peptide
therapies,”
and
has
participated
in
lectures
and
podcasts
discussing
the
same
peptides
that
were
voted
on
during
the
advisory
committee
meeting.
Melissa
Loseke,
DO:
Loseke
is
the
owner
of
the
Re-New
Institute,
a
wellness
clinic
offering
peptide
therapy,
and
serves
as
a
medical
consultant
or
advisor
for
three
other
health
clinics,
“all
of
which
note
her
expertise
in
providing
clinical
guidance
on
peptide
therapeutics,”
the
letter
noted.
Loseke
voted
in
favor
of
recommending
all
seven
peptides
at
the
meeting.
The
OIG
did
not
respond
by
press
time
to
a
query
about
whether
it
had
received
the
letter
and
if
it
had
any
comments.
However,
an
OIG
spokesperson
told
the
Washington
Post
that
it
cannot
confirm
nor
deny
if
it
is
conducting
an
investigation
on
a
particular
issue.
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