Ryan Gregory McTeigue has been sentenced today to 2 years imprisonment for his role in the unlawful manufacture, supply, advertising and export of performance and image enhancing therapeutic goods.
The sentence was suspended for two years with the requirement that Mr McTeigue enter into an undertaking that he be of good behaviour for a period of 2 years, and an added condition that he not export from, manufacture, advertise or supply therapeutic goods in Australia or import or offer to import therapeutic goods into Australia.
Mr McTeigue was the sole director of the Australian company Elite Labs Pty Ltd (Elite), which traded under the name Elite SARMS.
The court decision follows the Therapeutic Goods Administration's (TGA) investigation into Elite in 2018 following a number of complaints from members of the public. Several search warrants were executed at a premises connected to Mr McTeigue and Elite, resulting in the seizure of large quantities of therapeutic goods and other evidence.
Among the products Elite was supplying were SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators), SERMs (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators), and items listed in the Poisons Standard under Schedule 4 (prescription-only medicines) and Schedule 10 (substances that are of such danger to public health, they are prohibited from supply and use).
SARMs are experimental medicines that require a prescription in Australia for their supply. SARMs medicines can pose serious side effects, and no SARMs medicine has been approved for human use.
Mr McTeigue had relocated overseas during the investigation but was subsequently arrested and charged upon his return to Australia in 2023.
In delivering the sentence, Magistrate Atkinson said he hoped Mr McTeigue appreciated "how careful you have to be when you supply goods to the public," and that he should be grateful "that nothing came to light that there was harm. "
Professor Anthony Lawler, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care and head of the TGA, said that this case "demonstrates the TGA's willingness to pursue those that seek to put profit over the safety of their customers."
"A criminal conviction for these offences should send a message to anyone else seeking to build a business model based on the unlawful manufacture, supply and export of therapeutic goods, especially where those goods have the real potential to cause harm to people." Professor Lawler said.
In Australia, sport supplement products formulated or represented as being suitable for therapeutic use are regulated by the TGA. Importers, manufacturers and suppliers of sport supplement products are responsible for ensuring their products are included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods where required.
Unregulated medicines, including sport supplements, can pose a serious risk to consumers, as they:
- may contain dangerous levels of active ingredients
- may contain undisclosed and potentially dangerous ingredients
- may have been manufactured poorly
- may not do what they claim
- may contain little or no active ingredient.
If you suspect non-compliance in relation to therapeutic goods, you can report illegal or questionable practices online to the TGA.
