UK becomes “wild west” for unregulated peptides and steroids, expert warns

Unregulated drugs sold online are creating a “wild west” in the UK, with experts warning deaths could follow without action.

A leading endocrinology expert has warned that experimental peptides, anabolic steroids and other substances are being normalised through online sales and social media.

Peptides are short chains of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, that can affect how the body works. Some are used in medicine, but unregulated versions may be untested, contaminated or incorrectly dosed.

Anabolic steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone, a hormone linked to muscle growth and male sexual development. They are sometimes misused to change appearance or improve performance.

Prof Channa Jayasena of Imperial College London, a consultant in reproductive endocrinology and andrology at Hammersmith and St Mary’s hospitals, said he is seeing patients “day in, day out” who are taking experimental peptides.

He warned that the issue was “falling between the stools” of regulatory bodies.

Many online sellers market experimental peptides as part of wellness regimes, while anabolic steroids are promoted for their claimed effects on appearance and performance.

Jayasena said steroids are known to increase the risk of death threefold, while unregulated peptides may also carry dangers because many are made in China, outside standard quality controls, and may be contaminated.

He said: “It feels that we’re in the wild west and it feels like we’ve rapidly arrived in a situation of lawlessness when it comes to people normalising the administration of potentially very powerful and sometimes untested peptides and products that could have devastating consequences for their health.

“I do think there’s a need for a politician or someone to actually take this by the scruff of the neck because someone’s going to die.”

The warning comes after a Guardian investigation found fitness influencers using Telegram to sell anabolic steroids, prescription-only medicines and unregulated experimental peptides.

Susan Backhouse, professor of sport psychology and behavioural nutrition at Leeds Beckett University, said steroid use had previously been associated largely with gym culture, but enhancement practices were becoming more widely normalised.

She said: “Both men and women are showing increasing dissatisfaction with how their bodies look and feel, contributing to the normalisation of enhancement practices.

“We are constantly exposed to before-and-after images on our feeds. That repeated exposure creates a sense of normalisation.”

Backhouse also raised concerns about self-experimentation and the ease of buying products online.

She said: “Access has become incredibly easy. Someone can see an influencer promoting a product, click a link, and have that product delivered directly to their door within days.”

Jayasena said action must be taken.

He said: “It’s clearly falling between stools.

“We, crazily, don’t have any regulation for people confidently making medical claims who are not professionals, which really we should have.”

He said the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the UK medicines watchdog, only tackles regulation, while the Advertising Standards Authority has a narrower remit.

Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat chair of the health select committee, said: “We are deeply concerned that certain tech firms are uninterested in protecting people on their platforms, and that the MHRA and other agencies lack the resources to keep up in an ever-expanding game of whack-a-mole.”

Conservative MP Luke Evans, a former GP, said he had repeatedly raised concerns in parliament about image and performance-enhancing drugs, including anabolic steroids.

He said: “We’re letting people put this stuff into their body, which we have no idea what it does or how it works, and that’s a really scary place.”

Evans said the online market was “making things 10 times worse” and that many people using substances such as steroids would not consider themselves drug users.

He added: “Number one, first start talking about it; number two, get the data behind it; and number three, work out who is actually accountable for it.”

A government spokesperson said: “The UK takes the illegal sale and supply of medicines and potentially harmful substances seriously. The MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit investigates suspected offences, disrupts illegal supply chains, removes unsafe or unauthorised products and brings prosecutions where appropriate.

“Under the Online Safety Act, the illegal sale of drugs is treated as a priority given the serious harm it can cause.”