Arabic version: قاضي التحقيق يحث على مراجعة القيود على الببتيدات بعد وفاة ريتشارد نورتون
According to ABC News, a coroner has found Australian actor Richard Norton’s death was “triggered by” his injection of unapproved peptides and has recommended the Therapeutic Goods Administration consider tougher restrictions on their use. Norton, 75, died at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital on March 30, 2025, after collapsing and suffering a cardiac arrest.
Coroner David Ryan found Norton’s death resulted from complications arising from his use of CJC1295 and Ipamorelin. The products had been prescribed by a doctor and compounded in injection form by a licensed compounding pharmacy in Queensland. Norton, an experienced martial artist, actor, stuntman and instructor, had asthma, osteoarthritis and previous bilateral shoulder reconstructions.
The coroner said Norton had been taking amounts exceeding the dose prescribed by his medical practitioner. In the days before his death, he told Dr Jerzy Muchnicki that he was feeling good and that peptide therapy was improving his symptoms. Norton later told a nurse at the clinic that he had been administering double the prescribed dose; the nurse advised him to use only the prescribed dose from the following week. Hours later, he became unresponsive after an injection.
Ryan recommended that the TGA review the therapeutic benefits and safety risks of peptides including CJC1295 and Ipamorelin, and consider further restrictions. The TGA said it continues to warn consumers that unapproved peptides have not been assessed for safety, quality or effectiveness, and that it is assessing risks and considering whether further measures are appropriate. The death is believed to be the first confirmed fatality in Australia from unapproved peptide use.
A Medical Board of Australia investigation found Dr Muchnicki’s practice “is or may be unsatisfactory”, but said regulatory action was not warranted. He received a caution and conditions were imposed. Clinical Professor Alistair Vickery said there was insufficient evidence that CJC1295 and Ipamorelin were safe, effective or beneficial for human use, while finding the clinical care provided was at a reasonably expected standard. He also described the doctor’s notes as sparse, inadequate and perfunctory.
