Federal prosecutors in McAllen have charged a Harris County man with avoiding regulatory scrutiny by marketing and labeling a synthetic compound as “for lab rat use only” while simultaneously selling the product to a workout supplement retailer here as bodybuilding and dietary supplements.
Authorities brought a charge of “affecting the label to cause misbranding” against Robert Lance Schuffert, the registered agent of Science Production Products LLC, a company located in Humble that no longer has the right to do business in the state, according to comptroller information.
The criminal information against Schuffert says corporate filings list him as the owner and operator of the business, but the document identifies the true owner as “Owner-1,” an individual residing in Harris County.
That document only identifies the business in the McAllen Division of the Southern District of Texas as “Business-1.”
The synthetic compounds in question are called Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, or SARMs, and the specific synthetic chemical in the marketed product is called Ostarine MK-2866.
“SARMS were synthetic chemicals designed to mimic the effects of testosterone and other anabolic steroids. FDA issued a public safety alert in 2017 warning consumers against ingesting body-building products containing SARMS because these products were linked to life-threatening reactions, including liver toxicity and increased risk of heart attack and stroke. One such SARM was a drug called Ostarine,” the court document stated.
Porsecutors allege that “Owner-1” imported, manufactured, marketed and sold the SARM product called Ostarine MK-2866 and that Schuffert sold this product to various workout supplemental retailers, including “Business-1.”
The product came with dosage instructions and was marketed as “pharmaceutical grade” with guaranteed results and consumers were told it would “increase lean muscle mass and lose unwanted fat.”
The business’ product “was a misbranded drug because its labeling was false or misleading in any particular, in that it was labeled as a ‘Research Product’ but was in fact intended to be used by humans to increase lean muscle mass and lose unwanted fat.”
Federal prosecutors allege that Schuffert, “Owner-1,” and others known and unknown worked with other companies to import this produce from China and caused it to be misbranded and distributed for sale.
“Robert Lance Schuffert knew the SARM ingredient in Ostarine MK-2866 was subject to scrutiny by Government law enforcement agencies, including the FDA, and to avoid this regulatory scrutiny, marketed and labeled the product as ‘for lab rat use only’ and ‘for research purposes only’ while simultaneously knowingly holding the product for sale to brick-and-mortar retailers, and thus intended to affect the structure or function of the body,” the criminal information stated.
Court records indicate Schuffert will plead guilty to the charge next month.
