RFK Jr. forces FDA to reconsider 12 unproven peptides after 2023 ban

There doesn't seem to be new safety or efficacy data, but Kennedy touts them anyway.

See full article...

 

[coonwhiz]

Somehow The Onion continues to be too accurate:

View: https://bsky.app/profile/theonion.com/post/3mjiblikyxq2u

 

[myk.dinis]

Why would any SANE person take medical advice from a guy who amputated a raccoon penis for fun?






FUCK!$#!@%^&$#&%@$&^@^&*!#%!

<sobs quietly>

 

[rain shadow]

The featured photos on Beth Mole articles are just getting more and more grotesque.

 

[rcduke]

So absolutely frustrating that this quack will remove restrictions on unproven, unsafe things but at the same time push for further restrictions on medications for abortion or gender affirming care.

Healthcare in the US is well and truly cooked, which is an achievement considering it was already the worst of developed nations before RFK Jr got into it.

 

[DarthSlack]

Why would any SANE person take medical advice from a guy who amputated a raccoon penis for fun?






FUCK!$#!@%^&$#&%@$&^@^&*!#%!

<sobs quietly>

Well, RFK Jr certainly wouldn't take medical advice from RFK Jr. Here's what he had to say to the Senate in May 2025"

"I don't want to seem like I'm being evasive, but I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me."

 

[Sajuuk]

Completely arbitrary deadlines with pre-approved goals regardless of efficacy or data?

Yup, America voted to be run like a business alright.

 

[multimediavt]

The manslaughter and wrongful death cases coming against these clowns are going to be epic. The human suffering and death will be abhorrent. One can only hope Karma meets these folks, soon.

 

[murty]

#GOPDeathCult

 

[Sajuuk]

So absolutely frustrating that this quack will remove restrictions on unproven, unsafe things but at the same time push for further restrictions on medications for abortion or gender affirming care.

Healthcare in the US is well and truly cooked, which is an achievement considering it was already the worst of developed nations before RFK Jr got into it.

Which is, unfortunately, an glaringly obvious feedback loop. When the majority of your citizenry cannot actually access valid medical care, well, they turn to invalid care and stupid fucking quacks who sell sweet lies.

 

[Missing_Linc]

Well, RFK Jr certainly wouldn't take medical advice from RFK Jr. Here's what he had to say to the Senate in May 2025"

"I don't want to seem like I'm being evasive, but I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me."

I'll never cease to be amazed that we have created men that know they know nothing but still believe they can control how others live.

I understand ignorance. But this is more like a pathological need to overrule people who know more than he does. Instead of learning, RFK and Trump want to just beat down anyone who knows more.

 

[EmphyrioDonk]

Is that guy giving off the scent of sulfur ?

 

[Mechjaz]

From about 2011-2015, I was involved in the consulting and formulating a series of skin care and supplement products. It's not hard if you know some chemistry. I learned that a couple of the peptides listed in your article have been used for decades outside the US. Semax, for example, is used for stroke recovery in Russia, and maybe also as a nootropic. "Copper peptide" - GHK-Cu - as well as arigilene - have also been used for skin care applications for many years. Just not in the US. So please, before going ad hominen on RFK Jr, why not first search these items in pubmed.gov ... I can almost guarantee that you'll be fascinated.

Even if this claims about peptides were true and will be verified, what on earth about RFK Jr's lack of leadership, education, expertise, empathy, or common sense should absolve him from accurate depictions of his experience and character?

An ad hominem is a logical fallacy wherein you attack the person behind the argument rather than the argument itself. Saying he's an unhinged, dangerous, under-qualifed anti-science lunatic personally responsible for massive regressions in public health and a compulsive liar isn't an ad hominem attack. It plainly is who he is.

Even if this were the start of his redemption arc (it's not), you should be regarding him with skepticism until he proves consistently and in good faith that his positions and policies have merit (they don't).

 

[Fatesrider]

The featured photos on Beth Mole articles are just getting more and more grotesque.

It must be a re-post of a previous RFK image. I hate looking at these fucker's faces, so I use Ublock to block them. It never showed up for me.

As for the reconsideration, fine, waste tax dollars on that. He can't make the panel allow them. And any company trying to make a dollar off of them will find their liabilities bankrupting them when reality once again proves Kennedy's delusions are dangerous.

 

[AKZ1812]

Maybe we'll get lucky and RFK Jr will choke on these peptides.

 

[Mechjaz]

Maybe we'll get lucky and RFK Jr will choke on these peptides.

That's amino thing to say.

(sorry)

 

[chekk]

Let's just skip past all these intermediate steps and go straight to the end result.
In the future, the health of the masses will be granted by the giving of alms: perhaps we could call them indulgences (wikipedia link).

I mean, if anyone buys what this nitwit says or what some rando influencer pushes, why not?

 

[equals42]

And yet somehow the FDA can’t find time to approve better sunscreen ingredients that have been safely in use in the EU for 30 years. Congress even mandated that they do just that in 2014 but let’s concentrate on nutty non-science stuff Jr.

 

[Nafun]

So, a mediocre (at best) lawyer, who has never suffered any form of accountability, and has jack $h*t background in science is going to "restore science, accountability, and the rule of law." This should prove entertaining. Oh, and how much did that brain worm addled mofo recently invest in companies that will be making these peptides?

 

[Dietche]

Now, now, don't be too harsh on this idea! If it's good enough for Deanna, it's good enough for 'Merica!

 

[chiasticslide]

If we are going to let people inject themselves with unproven (or under-proven and under-researched) peptides, why can't we let people inject themselves with Estrogen or Testosterone without a prescription?

 

[Missing_Linc]

So, a mediocre (at best) lawyer, who has never suffered any form of accountability, and has jack $h*t background in science is going to "restore science, accountability, and the rule of law." This should prove entertaining. Oh, and how much did that brain worm addled mofo recently invest in companies that will be making these peptides?

Companies selling unapproved peptides are all the rage in the gym bro world. Almost every influencer on youtube that deals in body building is either sponsored or part owner of one and a lot of them are very dubious. RFK Jr is a big proponent of alternative supplements and PEDs. I wouldn't be shocked to find out he is financially invested in at least one.

He promotes things like Methylene Blue and TRT on the podcasts he goes on.

Edit to add: Biohacking is really taking over that particular space online because of the upcoming 'Enhanced Games'. Youtube has gone from PED use transparency to PED normalisation to straight up drug dealing in about 2 years.

 

[EBone]

Here’s an interesting article from the New Yorker that digs into the “peptide craze.”
https://apple.news/A2T22OWlZQeupuBCB47XrIA

 

[Phone Sterilizer]

In other words, he has no idea what they do and neither does anyone else. They’re perfect. Here comes the next grift.
“Peptides? Of course they work! (as far as we know)”

 

[iollmann]

So, what if.. just spit balling here.. I make a polypeptide that is large enough to provoke and immune response, and it just so happens to share sequence homology with a measles viral coat protein. Could that be considered? It wouldn’t cause measles because it isn’t the whole virus. It would just teach your body to recognize measles and jump start your immune system if you happened to be exposed to it later. You might be able to avoid serious disease the rest of your life.

 

[qazwart]

This is the same clown car group that is into “Look Maxxing”. One of the big things in “Look Maxxing” is hitting yourself in a jaw to break it. The idea is that you’ll get a more chiseled chin once it heals.

This sounds like some frat stunt that got out of control.

“Hey bro. Remember how we’d grab our little brother’s hand and make him smack himself in the face while telling him, ‘Stop hitting yourself!’?”

“Yeah man. That was fun.”

“I bet I can get hundreds of people punching themselves and posting it on YouTube.”

“No way! You’re on.”

 

[Missing_Linc]

This is the same clown car group that is into “Look Maxxing”. One of the big things in “Look Maxxing” is hitting yourself in a jaw to break it. The idea is that you’ll get a more chiseled chin once it heals.

This sounds like some frat stunt that got out of control.

That's them, the ones that think attractiveness is linked to neck thickness so headbang with weights. And the 15 to 17 year olds on massive amounts of testosterone and androgens aging themselves at alarming rates.

Anyone in medicine should really start getting ready for the epidemic of 25 year olds looking and feeling 60. And the enlarged hearts. Lots of enlarged hearts.

I really wish I hadn't fallen down this internet rabbit hole tbh. It's pretty worrying on top of literally everything else.

 

[lessthanjoey]

Peptides are food. Estrogen and testosterone are hormones.

Peptides are also often hormones. Something is only food if you eat it and your body digests it. If you eat peptides your body breaks them down and they have no effect other than as a source of raw amino acids. Injected (which these all are) they are definitely not food and many are hormones, or hormone mimics.

 

[jlredford]

You know, RFK Jr doesn't actually look all that good for a guy who's only 72. And he sure sounds terrible, like he's gargling with gravel. And he's entirely hated by his own family! He's not exactly a guy to emulate.

 

[Mrbonk]

Why would any SANE person take medical advice from a guy who amputated a raccoon penis for fun?






FUCK!$#!@%^&$#&%@$&^@^&*!#%!

<sobs quietly>

Everyday is a new non surprising surprise in this hellscape run by the white Christian nationalist equivalent of Sharia Law. You because they use that scapegoat in every bigoted action and statement they make to boogeyman anything but white Christianity.
They are telling everyone what they are trying to do.

Speaking from my experience in pharmacy the last decade plus. Compounding pharmacies have become to exist for nothing other than the grift of extracting money from rubes.


Last year someone I know said something like "At least he cares about kids and keeping kids healthy" or something absurd like that. (I think in reference to his hilarious nutritional nonsense) And I'm sure this same person did not even remotely think that about Michelle Obama when she tried that with more evidence based nutritional guidance for children.

 

[Xepherys]

From about 2011-2015, I was involved in the consulting and formulating a series of skin care and supplement products. It's not hard if you know some chemistry. I learned that a couple of the peptides listed in your article have been used for decades outside the US. Semax, for example, is used for stroke recovery in Russia, and maybe also as a nootropic. "Copper peptide" - GHK-Cu - as well as arigilene - have also been used for skin care applications for many years. Just not in the US. So please, before going ad hominen on RFK Jr, why not first search these items in pubmed.gov ... I can almost guarantee that you'll be fascinated.

The problem, as it so often is in the US, lies somewhere in between truth and our present reality. Everything you said regarding peptides is true. Semax is used pretty commonly in Russia as a neuro-recovery agent and has been for quite some time. Many of the items on this list really should be evaluated properly. As a GLP-1 user for T2 diabetes, I agree that peptides can be almost "magical" (yes, it's science, yes, I understand the science, but also yes, the effectiveness can have "magical" outcomes in a colloquial sense). Within weeks of starting Mounjaro, I was off my Metformin, cut my Valsartan dose in half (and by my next visit, over a year in, may be cutting it completely from my regimen), and lost some extra weight. It wasn't prescribed for weight loss, I'm not using it for weight loss, but it was a nice added feature. And if it can cut out my Valsartan usage entirely, even better (I'm not against medications at all, but there's obvious benefit to reducing reliance on medications when possible).

All that said, promoting good options while also promoting woo (Ivermectin) and railing against known, proven, good medication (most vaccines) isn't a net-zero situation - it's demonstrably a negative impact, and RFKJr is an absolute monster when it comes to putting personal views over actual science. That isn't hyperbole, it isn't ad hominem, it's just fact.

The problem is that the "old" FDA was, despite the notion, beholden to Congresscritters who are themselves beholden to "Big Pharma" in many cases. Profiteering from healthcare is an abomination, plain and simple. The "old" FDA was part and parcel of our horrific for-profit healthcare system. Conversely, the "new" FDA that RFKJr has been ushering in is a Wild West approach that allows the Dunningest-Krugerest amongst us think they've "done research" and just do whatever they choose. On one hand, I do believe that we should have sovereignty over our own bodies, and if we choose to import medications from other countries for personal use, the government should step off (I don't agree that it should be readily available on gas station counters, however). On the other hand, I also believe that having access to good information about why something has been deemed safe or unsafe and the implications is incredibly important. And even though I believe in sovereignty over our own bodies, I also believe that herd immunity is paramount to a successful populace, and that some mandated vaccinations are important enough to override said sovereignty.

Things with humans are rarely binary/black and white. There's nuance to everything, and unfortunately government agencies are not so good with nuance.

 

[Bernardo Verda]

"restore science, accountability, and the rule of law."

“independent experts will rigorously evaluate each substance on its scientific merits using full clinical, pharmacological, and safety evidence.”

Gaslighting is not some amazing new scientific methodology... It's just gaslighting.

 

[chiasticslide]

On one hand, I do believe that we should have sovereignty over our own bodies, and if we choose to import medications from other countries for personal use, the government should step off (I don't agree that it should be readily available on gas station counters, however). On the other hand, I also believe that having access to good information about why something has been deemed safe or unsafe and the implications is incredibly important. And even though I believe in sovereignty over our own bodies, I also believe that herd immunity is paramount to a successful populace, and that some mandated vaccinations are important enough to override said sovereignty.

Things with humans are rarely binary/black and white. There's nuance to everything, and unfortunately government agencies are not so good with nuance.

You put it much more succinctly and clearly than I could -- I was trying to make a very similar point before giving up due to difficulties in articulation. I think that we should have more or less total bodily autonomy, including what we choose to put into ourselves, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't still do research and clinical trials, and that also includes informed consent.

 

[Bernardo Verda]

In other words, he has no idea what they do and neither does anyone else. They’re perfect. Here comes the next grift.
“Peptides? Of course they work! (as far as we know)”

"Peptides. It's what bodies crave."

 

[lessthanjoey]

... As a GLP-1 user for T2 diabetes, I agree that peptides can be almost "magical" (yes, it's science, yes, I understand the science, but also yes, the effectiveness can have "magical" outcomes in a colloquial sense). Within weeks of starting Mounjaro, I was off my Metformin, cut my Valsartan dose in half (and by my next visit, over a year in, may be cutting it completely from my regimen), and lost some extra weight. ...

The enormous risk here is equating GLP-1 results (immensely studied and successful pharmaceuticals) with unstudied peptide results. GLP-1 drugs are one of the most successful and powerful drug classes discovered in recent history. This also likely applies to Orforglipron, despite it not being a peptide. The fact that GLP-1 drugs are primarily peptides isn't particularly relevant to anything IMO, they're just drugs and thus we should demand safety and efficacy data.

 

[dollyllama]

How much $$ was placed in his off-shore bank account in exchange for this favor?

 

[Missing_Linc]

How much $$ was placed in his off-shore bank account in exchange for this favor?

Off-shore? They don't need to be sneaky anymore. The President has almost tripled his net worth in office according to Forbes and he'll pardon the whole admin before anyone opens any investigations.

 

[Bernardo Verda]

Off-shore? They don't need to be sneaky anymore. The President has almost tripled his net worth in office according to Forbes and he'll pardon the whole admin before anyone opens any investigations.

More than tripled, by a lot. For some reason Forbes was somehow... overlooking... the notable discrepancies between claimed wealth and what Trump was actually worth before he ran for office.