A West Michigan man named Brandon Piper allegedly knowingly sold GLP-1 drugs that were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Piper, of Gobles, is accused of engaging in the activity from about October 2023 until about May 2025, according to a charging document filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Prosecutors say that Piper worked for and was affiliated with a Canadian company until about August 2024.
Piper then established a company called Milestone Purity. Both companies allegedly sold misbranded drugs without prescriptions and misrepresented Chinese drugs as American.
A misbranded drug is a prescription drug dispensed without a prescription. It is also considered mislabeled if the labeling is false, misleading or does not have adequate directions for use, according to the charging document.
“In an attempt to prevent detection by the FDA of the fact that they were marketing and selling to consumers misbranded and non-FDA approved prescription drugs without a prescription, both websites included disclaimers falsely stating that the products sold were “for research purposes only” and “not intended for human consumption/human use’,” the charging document reads.
Prosecutors say despite the disclaimers, Piper sold the misbranded drugs knowing that people would use them for various purposes, including weight loss.
Some of the drugs sold on the websites were semaglutide and tirzepatide. Both are GLP-1 drugs.
Currently there are only three semaglutide products that are FDA approved, according to the court document. These include Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus. There are only two tirzepatide products that are FDA approved: Mounjaro and Zepbound. Both semaglutide and tirzepatide products require prescriptions from licensed practitioners.
As an affiliate of the Canadian company, Piper "earned money by promoting the drugs sold on the website on his various social media platforms and by corresponding with customers about dosing protocols for the drugs they purchased,” the charging document claims.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison. He could also be fined.
