When Toby Mitchell was shot six times outside a Brunswick gym in 2011, he spent weeks in intensive care, underwent 30 operations and lost a kidney, gall bladder and most of his liver.
The bikie enforcer and one-time heavyweight kickboxer needed a cane to walk, and his prognosis was grim.
"Toby was a bag of bones. He'd wasted away, was in constant pain and his liver was failing," an associate says. "Now look at him."
Less than two years later he would be back to 90 kilograms and fit enough to break the jaw of a notorious standover man during a street fight over a debt.
Underworld lore holds that Mitchell's dramatic return to a healthy and active (criminal) life - in the past year alone he was convicted of two assaults, drug possession and weapon offences - came from the same field of "science" that brought AFL club Essendon to the brink of ruin.
Peptides. Performance-enhancing supplements. Human growth hormone. Stem cells.
The controversial treatments were administered to Mitchell by "anti-ageing" specialists Dr John Levin and biochemist Shane Charter, a figure who played an almost simultaneous role in both the bikie's recovery and the Essendon doping scandal.
Sources say these very public demonstrations of the seemingly miraculous power of anti-ageing medicine has created a lucrative new market for medical professionals and illicit drug dealers alike.
The booming demand in the anti-aging market is being fed by the wealthy and vain - business people, celebrities, elite athletes, gym junkies and criminals - who want to turn back the clock or gain an edge over rivals.
"The treatments make you feel like you're 18 again," one customer said. "What wouldn't you pay for that?"
It's these kinds of claims - coupled with lax government regulation - that sees the anti-ageing sector overselling the benefits of treatment while underplaying the risks, critics say.
Unlike traditional medical specialities, anti-ageing has no peak regulatory body and its treatments are considered outside the mainstream by experts. Some regard it as little more than a marketing term.
"There is no 'anti-ageing' specialty for medical practitioners, and as such no 'anti-ageing specialists'," a spokeswoman for the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency said.
The industry is flamboyant and secretive about its practices.
Gold Coast cosmetic surgeon Dr Cesidio Colagrande uses glossy nude photos of models to promote anti-ageing treatments like hormone therapy alongside breast surgery and lip fillers on his website.
Although he spruiks his medical credentials, "Dr Ces" does not mention a medical board ruling that compels him to attend a workshop on "evidence-based practice" and submit to regular audits to ensure he is following "ethical prescribing practices".
Other clinics operate by word-of-mouth referrals, including the new Epworth Health Services in Melbourne (a privately owned company which has no connection to Epworth HealthCare), associated with Shane Charter.
Charter's work as "Dr Ageless" made national headlines in 2013 when it was revealed the biochemist was supplying Essendon with performance-enhancing supplements like peptides.
The former bodybuilder, who has two criminal convictions relating to drugs and steroids, has seen a dramatic increase in his consulting business since Mitchell's recovery and the football-and-supplements scandal.
Epworth does not advertise and has no branding, but is nonetheless well-known among the wealthy seeking anti-ageing treatments.
Charter declined to comment on Mitchell's medical history.
But court records and sources close to the ex-bikie say he received regular injections of Human Growth Hormone (HGH), testosterone, steroids and stem cell treatments during his recovery.
But the science behind these kinds of anti-ageing treatments remains hotly disputed.
"There are a lot of unscrupulous people and they prey on a section of society that is looking for a panacea, a magical elixir," said Australian Medical Association vice-president Dr Tony Bartone.
"The products are yet to be evaluated in double-blind clinical trials. Our advice is to tread warily when it comes to these claims and practitioners."
One of the most fiercely contested areas is the use of HGH, which has been dubbed the "fountain of youth in a syringe".
Promotional materials claim HGH increases muscle size by 88 per cent, improves "sexual potency and frequency" by 75 per cent and boosts "emotional stability" by 67 per cent. The source is not a peer-reviewed medical journal.
HGH occurs naturally in the human body, but it drops off sharply in men after the age of 40.
Anti-ageing advocates say injections can be used to return HGH levels to "normal" for those who have experienced an "abnormal" decline.
"Once you go on it, you don't want to come off. It's a long-term treatment," an anti-ageing practitioner, who asked to remain anonymous, says.
"There are people doing research and building the required data to prove its efficacy - this takes time and patients, pardon the pun."
HGH is only legally available in Australia with a prescription and should ony be prescribed after a special test.
"It's amazing how many CEOs, celebs, gym junkies and bikies turn out to have hormone problems in this country. And they all seem to have the same doctors," said an underworld source who has received HGH injections.
There have been a number of high-profile anti-ageing practitioners who have run into trouble for prescribing HGH.
Dr John Levin, the 84-year-old anti-ageing specialist who also treated Mitchell, has been an enthusiastic advocate of HGH for more than 20 years - since he first began using it on himself.
Levin has a condition on his medical license requiring him to prescribe HGH only after conducting specific diagnostic tests.
"About five years ago, I had a lot of publicity in the newspapers etc, regarding the use of HGH. The medical board investigated this publicity but there were no complaints from anywhere," Dr Levin said. "The medical board wanted me to use other tests which I have performed since then."
Melbourne doctor Martin Hill allegedly told his patients the only side effect of HGH was its cost and he treated men as young as 35. He has been banned from prescribing HGH, must tell every patient he is not a specialist and undergo regular auditing by the regulator.
Others have been sanctioned for writing prescriptions to patrons at Sydney nightclubs and dispensing large amounts to members of outlawed bikie clubs
On Saturday, a drive-by shooting of the home of sports scientist Stephen Dank illustrated the potential intersection between the anti-ageing sector and the underworld. Police are reportedly investigating links between Dank and criminal elements, including motorcycle gangs, which have shown growing interest in the "anti-ageing" sector.
In Australia, independent experts advising the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme determine whether the costs of a medicine should be government subsidised based on its proven efficacy.
HGH it is not available through the PBS after an advisory committee rejected an application to add it in 2011.
"This was because the trials for use of human growth hormone in adults did not clearly show benefits for the treatment, such as improvement in quality of life," a health department spokeswoman said.
"There was also evidence of safety concerns for use of the drug over taking no treatment."
HGH advocates argue it was blocked because the treatment is so expensive. It must be injected daily and patients can spend $8000-$10,000 for a year's treatment.
The extent of HGH use is impossible to estimate, but medical industry sources say demand is soaring.
Because HGH is an off-PBS "private" prescription, no regulator can say with any certainty how often it is prescribed or how appropriately.
While the health department is responsible for issuing import permits for HGH, the agency was unable to provide any figures about how much has been legally brought into the country over the past five years.
The Australian Border Force intercepted more than 6800 shipments in the past three years, although the number of seizures has dropped by half since 2013.
Underworld sources say there is a brisk trade in black market HGH in the city's gyms, where a two-week supply costs up to $500 - double the legal price.
