AMA Urges FDA to Maintain Rigorous Standards for Botanical Drugs and Warns Against HHS Peptide Policy

The American Medical Association (AMA) is advocating for the FDA to apply the same rigorous, evidence-based standards to botanical drug products, including kratom and cannabis, as it does to other pharmaceuticals. The AMA also expressed concern that a new federal policy from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) effectively authorizes the compounding of non-FDA-approved peptide substances, which the AMA warns could put patients at increased risk due to a lack of established safety and efficacy data.