An Australian coroner has found that Richard Norton’s death was triggered by injections of two unapproved peptides.
Norton, the martial artist, stuntman and actor who played the Prime Imperator in “Mad Max: Fury Road,” died at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne on March 30, 2025. He was 75.
Victorian coroner David Ryan delivered his findings on Wednesday, Oct. 28, ABC News Australia reported. Ryan found that Norton went into cardiac arrest after injecting the peptides CJC1295 and Ipamorelin, and that he “had been taking amounts of the medication in excess of the dose prescribed by his medical practitioner.”
His Final Weeks
On March 11, 2025, Norton went to his doctor to ask about peptide therapy, per Yahoo News Australia. He had used it before for fatigue, shoulder pain and loss of lean muscle.
The doctor told him the treatment was still experimental and warned him about the risks. He prescribed the peptides after Norton had blood tests and a CT scan.
Norton later said he was feeling better. On March 28, he told a clinic nurse he had been injecting double the prescribed dose, and he was told to go back to the amount he’d been given.
That evening, after another injection, he felt hot and flushed and collapsed. The coroner found the injection caused an anaphylactic reaction that led to cardiac arrest. His wife, Judy, performed CPR. He died two days later.
The Doctor
The peptides were prescribed by Dr. Jerzy Muchnicki and made by a licensed compounding pharmacy in Queensland, according to ABC.
The Medical Board of Australia investigated his treatment of Norton. “There is insufficient evidence that CJC1295/Ipamorelin is safe, effective or beneficial for human use,” clinical professor Alistair Vickery said.
The board found Muchnicki’s notes were “sparse, inadequate and perfunctory.” It cautioned him and put conditions on his practice. Muchnicki apologized and acknowledged his errors, ABC reported.
What the Coroner Recommended
Ryan asked Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, to review the benefits and risks of peptides like CJC1295 and Ipamorelin and to “consider whether further restrictions ought to be imposed on their use.” He also recommended they be listed as poisons.
“I am not satisfied that it is appropriate for them to be available to be prescribed by medical practitioners,” Ryan said, per Yahoo News Australia.
The TGA said it keeps warning consumers about unapproved peptides and is looking at whether more steps are needed.
In the U.S., meanwhile, a proposed policy change could make popular wellness peptides easier to get.
Who Richard Norton Was
Norton grew up in Australia and earned a karate black belt as a teenager. Early in his career, he worked as a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, ABBA and Fleetwood Mac.
His first screen role was opposite Chuck Norris in 1980’s “The Octagon.” He later fought Jackie Chan on screen in “City Hunter.”
He trained stars including Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron, TheWrap reported. He was the fight choreographer on “The Suicide Squad” and played the Prime Imperator again in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.”
Men’s Journal reported his death in March 2025.
