The Australian martial artist who fought Chuck Norris on screen and worked as a bodyguard for David Bowie off it died after injecting more of an unapproved peptide than his doctor had prescribed.
Victorian coroner David Ryan found that Richard Norton, the actor, stuntman and fight coordinator, died at 75 after injecting an excess dose of unapproved peptides prescribed by his doctor, in findings handed down Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, at the Coroners Court of Victoria. Norton died at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne on March 30, 2025, less than two weeks after starting a course of prescribed injections.
“I am satisfied that Richard’s death was triggered by his injection of the peptide CJC1295/Ipamorelin,” Ryan wrote in his findings. The sequence he set out was swift, with the injection triggering an anaphylactic reaction that led to cardiac arrest. Norton’s death is believed to be the first in Australia linked to unapproved peptide use.
Norton appeared in dozens of films, among them “The Octagon,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Suicide Squad.” Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Affleck, Liam Neeson and Tom Hardy all worked with him or trained under him. He also taught martial arts and did bodyguard work for music figures including David Bowie. Photos taken days before his death showed him looking fit and healthy.
Twice the Dose, Then Collapse
Norton approached Dr. Jerzy Muchnicki in March 2025, interested in peptide therapy for fatigue, shoulder pain and loss of muscle while he recovered from bilateral shoulder reconstruction surgery. The two discussed what the treatment involved, its experimental nature and its potential risks, along with the absence of any option approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Norton told the doctor that another practitioner had prescribed him peptides before and that they had worked.
Blood tests established a baseline for his health and checked for contraindications, and Norton signed an informed consent form covering the treatment, its benefits and its risks, anaphylaxis among them. Muchnicki wrote the prescription on March 19, 2025, for CJC-1295 and ipamorelin — synthetic peptides that stimulate the body’s natural production of growth hormone and are typically promoted for muscle growth, weight loss and recovery enhancement. A week later, Norton told his care team the therapy was working.
On March 28, 2025, he admitted to a nurse that he was injecting twice his prescribed dose. The nurse instructed him to return to the prescribed amount starting the next week. Norton also asked for a replacement vial, saying he had broken the original, and he received it along with two additional peptides. That evening, after injecting another dose, he complained of feeling hot and flushed, then collapsed and went unresponsive. His wife, Judy Green, called for help and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Norton went into cardiac arrest and died in the hospital two days later.
A Push to Limit Them to Trials
The TGA should review the therapeutic benefits and safety risks of peptides such as CJC-1295 and ipamorelin and weigh further restrictions on their use, Ryan recommended. His suggestion was to reclassify them from schedule 4, prescription-only medicines, to schedule 10, a category that limits substances to clinical trials and other experimental settings. Doctors should not be able to prescribe the peptides at all, the coroner wrote, saying he did not consider it appropriate.
Norton had CJC-1295 and ipamorelin, BPC157 and Thymosin B4/TB-500 in his possession. None of those products appear in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, which must list a health-related product before it is made, supplied or exported in Australia. Products absent from the register are classed as unapproved and have not been evaluated for quality, safety or efficacy.
The Growing Pressure on Hospitals
Hospital emergency departments in New South Wales recorded 1,180 visits tied to unapproved peptide injections between July 2025 and September 2026, according to NSW Health. Figures published Monday, Oct. 19, put a quarter of those patients between 16 and 24, 32% between 25 and 34 and 26% between 35 and 44, with men making up 51%. Presentations climbed from five in July 2025 to 217 in September 2026, and retatrutide featured in 71% of the cases.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said of the injections: “We know that using these unapproved substances can come with real health risks, but it’s particularly alarming to see the growing pressure they’re placing on our health system.” Dr. Kerry Chant, the NSW Health chief health officer, warned that contents and strength may vary between products carrying the same label. “A professional looking website, a label, purity claim, reviews, or influencer endorsement is not proof of what is inside the product,” she said.
Lynda Scammell, head of borderlines at the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, told LADbible the agency takes action against unauthorized peptide products. “We disregard claims that products are for ‘research purposes’ if it is clear that such claims are being used as an attempt to avoid medicines regulations. If there is evidence within the promotional material that the products are in fact unauthorised medicines intended for human use, we will take appropriate regulatory action,” she said.
The Expert Who Read His Notes
The Medical Board of Australia investigated Muchnicki. An independent expert engaged by the board reported that there was insufficient evidence that either peptide is safe, effective or beneficial for human use, and rated the doctor’s clinical notes well below the standard expected. Regulatory action did not follow; the board ordered one-on-one training in keeping and managing clinical records instead.
Muchnicki acknowledged the criticism and accepted responsibility. He voiced regret over what Norton and his family went through, and committed to not prescribing peptides unless robust clinical evidence supports it.
