Ohio Board of Pharmacy suspends a Sylvania med spa drug license over unapproved peptides

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy has suspended the drug license of a Sylvania med spa after inspectors found unapproved injectable peptides, expired medicines and dirty storage. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy issued the summary suspension on September 15, five days after an inspection of iBeauty MedSpa, according to state records reported by WTOL 11 Investigates on October 13. The clinic is challenging the action, and a hearing is set for January 6, 2027. Until then it cannot hold or hand out dangerous drugs, and its owner says it has stopped offering peptides and weight loss drugs.

What inspectors found in Sylvania

Inspectors visited the clinic on Sylvania Avenue on September 10. According to the board's 17 page notice, they found dozens of vials of unapproved injectable drugs, including several peptide products, some bought from a supplier the board says holds no license as a wholesaler, outsourcing facility, compounding pharmacy or manufacturer and has no FDA registration. The board classed those drugs as adulterated and misbranded. Other injectables carried no maker's details, and one product from South Korea had never been approved by the FDA. The notice also says the owner, Dr. Fadi Ibrahim, told staff by phone that he knew the products were unapproved but believed he could use them off label because he is a physician. The FDA treats off label use of an approved drug as a different matter from giving an unapproved one.

The notice describes how the peptides reached patients. Ibrahim told inspectors that the clinic mixed some peptide powders with liquid on site and then sent patients home with syringes to inject themselves. Inspectors also found pre filled syringes of semaglutide in a bag labeled with a patient's name, with no labels on the syringes and no record of when they were prepared. Staff said they had not been filled that day. The board said such syringes carry a six hour use limit and were not suitable for home use. A refrigerator held a pouch marked for the owner with six vials of unapproved peptides, which he said were for his own use. Expired medicines sat among active stock, including naloxone and compounded semaglutide.

Repeat problems and the clinic response

The September visit was not the first. The board's notice lists four repeat violations from an inspection on November 20, 2025: failing to check that suppliers were licensed, failing to date multi dose vials, keeping expired drugs in active stock, and improperly receiving compounded drugs prepared for named patients. The notice does not say whether any penalty followed that first visit. In September inspectors also reported a very dirty main drug refrigerator, boxes soaked by condensation, a leaking vial of vitamin C, and no temperature monitoring on fridges or the freezer. Drugs and syringes sat in unlocked cabinets, building and cleaning staff held keys, and no licensed prescriber was present when inspectors arrived. The board found the conditions posed a danger of immediate and serious harm.

The notice does not say whether any penalty followed that first visit.

Ibrahim disputed the picture in an interview with WTOL. "I'm not too worried about this by any means. We follow the rules. We respect the state of Ohio," he said. He told the station that he did not know the peptide supplier had lost its standing in Ohio, and that "peptides is a grey area." He blamed the oldest expired stock, some dated June 2023, on the previous owner, though WTOL noted that the drugs were still in active inventory more than two years after he says he took over. He said the clinic has removed the small fridges from its exam rooms. His lawyer requested a hearing, and the suspension does not affect his personal medical license. The clinic remains open for other services.

Why peptides are not a gray area in Ohio

The owner's remark captures a common belief among sellers, but state and federal rules leave less room than it suggests. An unapproved drug does not become approved because a doctor prescribes it, and a clinic that buys from an unlicensed source cannot show where the product came from or what it contains. The FDA has sent a wave of warning letters to online sellers of GLP 1 copies, and federal officials are reviewing a plan that could loosen compounding rules for some peptides. That plan has been under White House review, and its terms are not public. Even if it is adopted, it would cover pharmacy compounding from approved ingredients, not vials from unlicensed suppliers.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy licenses every clinic that keeps dangerous drugs on site, through what the state calls a terminal distributor license. That license is what was suspended here, which is why the clinic had to stop giving peptides and weight loss shots while it remains open. Under Ohio rules a terminal distributor must check and document that each supplier is licensed before buying, and the board presumes a purchase is unlawful if no check was recorded. Med spas that offer injections are therefore pharmacy regulated businesses in this sense, whatever else they sell. For patients, the practical test is whether a clinic can name the licensed pharmacy or manufacturer behind each product and show a label with a lot number and date.

What patients of med spas should ask

People who have bought peptide or weight loss injections from a med spa can ask a few direct questions. Is the product approved by the FDA, or compounded by a licensed pharmacy for them by name? Who made it, and is that maker licensed in the state? Was the vial or syringe labeled with a lot number and a use by date? Was it stored in a monitored fridge? A clinic that cannot answer is a warning sign. Approved GLP 1 medicines remain available through prescriptions, insurance, Medicare's bridge program for eligible people, and the makers' own cash pharmacies. Gray market peptides have spread fast online, as the TikTok search blackout for several peptide names showed.

The case will now move through Ohio's administrative process. The clinic had until October 26 to send a first settlement proposal unless the board agreed to a different date, and the hearing is set for January 6 at the board's offices in Columbus. At that hearing the clinic can contest the findings and present evidence, and the board can make the suspension permanent, change it or lift it. None of the allegations has yet been tested at a hearing. Anyone who received an injection from the clinic and has concerns about it should talk to their own doctor and keep any remaining product and packaging. Suspected problems with drugs can also be reported to the FDA through MedWatch and to the board itself.

Conclusion

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy acted against a Sylvania med spa that, according to the board, gave patients unapproved peptides from an unlicensed source, kept expired drugs and stored medicines in dirty, unmonitored fridges. The clinic disputes the action and will get a hearing in January. The case shows that peptide injections at a med spa sit squarely under state drug rules, whatever sellers say about a gray area.