Scrutiny of HGH Could Bring New Restrictions

“It is my opinion for an adult there are no legitimate off-label uses,” Dr. Rogol emphasized in an interview.

But both Dr. Rogol and Dr. Hellman acknowledged that there are no central data on how much HGH is being used illicitly, by either nonphysician or physician prescribers. It's in the public interest to keep a registry or to create some other way to keep track of HGH use, Dr. Hellman said. Physicians legitimately using HGH “should have no problem having their work scrutinized,” he said.

Both endocrinologists also said they were open to considering data on new uses of HGH, as long as it came from a validated scientific process.

The Endocrine Society and AACE both have published guidelines on HGH. The Endocrine Society guidelines, published in 2006, only pertained to treating adult growth hormone deficiency (J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2006;91:1621-34).

AACE last published guidelines in 2003. That report took a broad look at HGH uses and highlighted concerns that off-label prescribing or abuse could lead to reimbursement issues for legitimate patients (Endocr. Pract. 2003;9:64-76).