Brigham Buhler, CEO of Ways2Well and owner of ReviveRx Pharmacy, joined Joe Rogan’s podcast to discuss the future of regenerative therapies — including peptides — and the challenges posed by America’s insurance and regulatory system.
“The second you put this in an insurance model or a government payer model, everybody is castrated,” Buhler said. “The decisions are made at the insurance level and at the government level, and it just becomes this nuanced challenging thing.” He pointed to stem cells as a cautionary tale, explaining how orthopedic surgeons once billed wound injuries to cover ACL procedures. “Well, that only takes a year, six months before the insurance companies ring the bell and go, ‘Wait a second, dude. This person billed us a million dollars on wound management, and they’re an orthopedic surgeon. What is going on?’ You just committed insurance fraud, and now you’ve created this counterculture movement against stem cells.”
According to Buhler, that backlash pushed stem cells and related biologics into a “gray no man’s land” — widely used in clinics but lacking FDA indications and insurance coverage. He believes peptides are now in a similar position: promising, but stuck outside mainstream pathways.
“I’m more optimistic than ever that we are going to get — if we get peptides done, the next step is to begin to work the citizens petition to see if we can do the same thing for these biologics and make these things affordable and accessible for everybody,” he said.
Buhler highlighted state‑level progress, noting that treatments are legally available in places like Texas, Florida, and Utah. Florida, he said, has already seen a $300 million infusion of medical tourism revenue. “We have an opportunity to turn Texas into a medical tourism destination. Can you imagine how many people would visit Austin if we truly do build a proper regulatory pathway with all the checks and balances where people can confidently fly down here and know that they can get these treatments and not have to have a passport?”
Clinically, peptides such as BPC‑157 and TB‑500 have shown promise in preclinical studies for tissue repair and inflammation reduction, though large‑scale human trials remain limited. For Buhler, the fight is about sovereignty and autonomy in healthcare. “I think it’s crucial that we fight for sovereignty and autonomy over our health and continue to push,” he said.