NC man who imported Chinese drugs and sold them as fake diet pills will go to prison
A 47-year-old Apex man will spend a year and a day in federal prison after his Cary-based company imported and sold drugs disguised as dietary supplements for building muscle mass.
Brian Parks, the former owner of Cary-based MedFixRX, pleaded guilty in November to one count of distributing unapproved new drugs with the intent to mislead and defraud consumers and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Sentenced in Virginia on Wednesday, Parks also surrendered $250,000.
Between 2016 and 2019, Parks imported Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators from China, bottling them with other drug products and distributing them nationwide, according to a 2020 federal indictment.
The company distributed products designed to mimic testosterone, one named Lucky Sarms Magical AF, to undercover FDA investigators, the indictment said. Another product, called Estrovert, contained illegal anabolic steroids.
The FDA has warned against SARMs, linking them linked to liver toxicity and increased risk of heart attack and stroke, federal prosecutors said in a Wednesday news release.
“When Parks marketed drugs masquerading as dietary supplements that had not been approved by the FDA, he sidestepped important safeguards to protect the public,” said acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar of Virginia.
MedFitRX advertised itself as licensed and registered to sell SARMS though it knew they lacked FDA approval, the indictment said.
“Sports supplements that are manufactured and distributed outside the FDA’s oversight and that contain unapproved and possibly toxic ingredients endanger the health of unsuspecting consumers,” said Catherine A. Hermsen with the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations.
MedFitRX later became known as MedFit Sarmacuticals.