September 30, 2009
The FDA served iForce Nutrition and owner Dave Nelson with a search warrant during the course of the 2009 IFBB Olympia Expo. The search warrant was executed in the days following the FDA raid of Bodybuilding.com. Four iForce Nutrition products were listed as “undercover purchases” made at Bodybuilding.com. Both the iForce Nutrition search warrant and the Bodybuilding.com search warrant alleged that these products contain anabolic steroids, unapproved new drugs, and/or misbranded drugs: 1,4 AD Bold 200 (androstenedione), 17a PheraFLEX (Madol), Dymethazine (Superdrol) and Methadrol (Superdrol).
The FDA media strategy forced several dietary supplement companies and their owners into the spotlight and made them readily accessible to both federal agents and media representatives at the 2009 Olympia Expo.
August 11, 2009
Kelly Blair, the owner of now-defunct 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness near Houston, has filed a defamation lawsuit against the authors and publisher of “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime” on the eve of his grand jury testimony in the Roger Clemens perjury investigation. The book was written by the New York Daily News investigative journalism team consisting of Michael O’Keefe, Christian Red, Teri Thompson and Nathaniel Vinton. The suit also names the publisher (Knopf Doubleday) and one previously anonymous source (Robin Dobbins) cited in the book (”Authors and Publisher of Baseball Steroids Book Sued for Defamation, According to The Gibson Law Firm,” August 10).
Blair’s attorney, Jason A. Gibson, of The Gibson Law Firm, stated, “As the lawsuit alleges, Kelly Blair was maliciously and recklessly defamed by the authors and publishers of this book and at least one dubious source whose false allegations they published. Kelly looks forward to his day in court on this matter. In the meantime, he looks forward to testifying tomorrow before the grand jury in Washington.”
Kelly Blair’s lawsuit alleges that Robin Dobbins is responsible for the information in the book that links Blair directly to the sale of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to Major League Baseball (MLB) players Read more
July 31, 2009
Michael Schmidt of the New York Times reported this week that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were two of the baseball players who tested positive for for anabolic steroids as part of Major League Baseball’s “non-disciplinary and anonymous” steroid testing in 2003.
Jon Pessah, a senior writer at ESPN Magazine, responded that the “real questions about steroids” raised by the New York Times story involve the illegal activity that resulted not only in the government seizure of the list but also the subsequent leaking of the names.
The seizure of the list is the subject of a lawsuit by the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) against the federal government. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals imposed a gag order on all parties involved in the case preventing the leaking of names under the penalty of contempt of court.
Jon Pessah, writing for True/Slant, questioned whether reporters are themselves breaking the law in their aggressive purusit of steroid users in Major League Baseball (”The Real Questions About Steroids,” July 30). Read more
July 16, 2009
The public hysteria over anabolic steroids has spread to the debate involving the use of banned drugs to enhance antler growth in Texas white-tailed deer. There is concern that hunters’ trophies and records for huge racks could be tainted or subject to asterisks suggestive of the steroid era in baseball.
Anabolic steroid use does NOT appear to enhance antler growth and may actually have the opposite effect. Veterinarian Ken Waldrup, with the Department of State Health Services in El Paso, addressed the speculation that anabolic steroids were being used by white-tail deer breeders at a recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) White Tailed Deer Advisory Committee (”Juiced-up … deer? Say it ain’t so!,” July 16). Read more
June 17, 2009
The arrests of Mr. New Zealand and IFBB pro bodybuilder Marc Rainbow and amateur bodybuilder Andrew Lent in unrelated steroid cases have prompted concern among anti-doping officials that bodybuilding is the “supply network” for anabolic steroids in mainstream sports. Graeme Steel of Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) blamed bodybuilders for the spread of steroids in sports. There has been no reported evidence to substantiate the assertion that recently seized steroids were intended for New Zealand athletes Read more
May 27, 2009
Richard and Sandra Thomas, former competitive bodybuilders who competed in 2001 NPC Mid-Florida Muscle Classic mixed pairs competition, were arrested after undercover narcotics detectives recovered several thousand dosages of oral anabolic steroid, injectable steroids, and steroid paraphernalia some of which may have been destined for professional athletes. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) obtained an anticipatory search warrant in preparation for the controlled delivery after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Philadelphia notified them that a large shipment of anabolic steroids was destined for the Lakeland, Florida home of Richard and Sandra Thomas. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd reported the steroid seizure as the largest in the history of the PCSO. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office apparently also seized copies of the steroid reference books “Anabolics 2007” and “Anabolics 9th Edition” which the photographer felt compelled to use creatively in official photographs of the steroid seizure Read more
May 23, 2009
Former NFL running back Femi Ayanbadejo settled his lawsuit against ALR Industries in a confidential agreement. ALR Industries (ALRI) has NOT admitted wrongdoing. ALRI is proceeding with its defamation lawsuit seeking punitive damages against Ayanbadejo for his irresponsible and false statements alleging that ALRI spiked its supplements. Ayanbadejo tested positive for an ingredient clearly listed on the label of ALRI Max LMG during a doping test conducted by the National Football League (NFL) (”Ex-Aztec, company settle dispute over supplement’s label,” May 20).
“Sometimes athletes have a valid claim against these companies, and sometimes they don’t,” said Charles Weller, attorney for ALR Industries. “This was a perfect example of a situation where we don’t have a valid claim. Ayanbadejo tested positive for exactly what was on the label of Max LMG. In trying to save his career, he chose to point fingers at the supplement company. He took a dietary supplement without doing his due diligence.”
Ayanbadejo publicly told reporters that ALR Industries knowingly added a banned substance and intentionally failed to disclose it on the label of Max LMG. Jim Miller, Ayanbadejo’s attorney, blamed Ayanbadejo’s failed steroid test on either a cross-contaminated or intentionally spiked supplement. However, Ayanbadejo and his lawyer never submitted any evidence to support allegations that Max LMG was cross-contaminated or spiked.
An evaluation of the Max LMG label easily proves the LISTED ingredient(s) account for the failed test. Read more
May 22, 2009
The United Kingdom intends to expand its anabolic steroid laws in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics in response to pressure from the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The steroid law revision is largely a symbolic move by the United Kingdom. It is an attempt to appease WADA by showing their commitment anti-doping in sports; however, the personal use of anabolic steroids and the importation of anabolic steroids for personal use will continue to be permitted under UK steroid law. The proposed legislation is unlikely to have any effect on steroid use in the United Kingdom.
The new proposal seeks to make British steroid law consistent with the WADA prohibited substance list. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended adding an additional 24 anabolic steroids (mostly marginally effective prohormones) and 2 non-steroidal agents to the existing list of 54 anabolic steroid and 5 growth hormones currently classified as Schedule 4 (IV) controlled substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Suggestions by the media that the proposed changes to UK steroid law are intended to protect the children are disingenuous. The driving forces behind the new steroid laws are IOC/WADA and the 2012 London Olympics (”Proposed control of 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP) and a group of substituted piperazines, as well as an additional 24 anabolic steroids and 2 non-steroidal agents,” May 21).
The original group of steroids were identified by reference to the International Olympic Commission Prohibited List. It is therefore appropriate for us to update our controls by reference to its successor, the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List. It will provide consistency in our approach and is fully in line with the Government’s commitment to prevent the misuse of these substances both by the general public but also by elite athletes, particularly in the lead up to the London Olympics in 2012. [...]
The measure to control 24 additional anabolic steroid substances and 2 non-steroidal products under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 will support the Government’s commitment to strengthening the mechanisms to tackle doping in sport, targeting those facilitating doping and tackle trafficking, supply and manufacture of doping substances and those involved in such activities.
The IOC has long pressured the United Kingdom to criminalize personal use of steroids. Without changes to steroid possession laws, the IOC and WADA are unlikely to be satisfied by the Home Office’s latest recommendations. The United Kingdom’s permissive steroid possession laws will likely become increasingly problematic as the 2012 London Olympics approach. We expect the IOC to continue to lobby the U.K. government to adopt legislation that criminalizes mere use and possession of anabolic steroids.
The personal use of anabolic steroids and the importation of anabolic steroids for personal use remains explicitly permitted in the United Kingdom when in the form of a medicinal product under the new proposals. Read more
May 18, 2009
The 2009 NABBA Belgium Nationals Bodybuilding Championships were cancelled yesterday after three anti-doping official arrived unannounced to conduct steroid testing. The NABBA Belgium sanctioned bodybuilding championship was to be held at Arsenaal Theater in Vlissingen, Netherlands on Sunday, May 17, 2009. The 20 bodybuilding competitors were reported to have “fled” the auditorium when the steroid testers arrived (”Bodybuilders op de vlucht voor dopingartsen,” May 18).
“I have never seen anything like it and hope never to see anything like it again,” said anti-doping official Hans Cooman… “In the bodybuilding world doping control is necessary because we know that there is a lot of doping going on. The results prove this again and again.”
Cooman said he had no choice but to conclude that all the competitors were using steroids based on their abrupt departure from the venue. Read more
May 1, 2009
Sports Illustrated journalist Selena Roberts claims to have “irrefutable” proof that Yankees Alex Rodriguez used anabolic steroids as a teenager baseball player at Westminster Christian High School in Miami. Roberts’ certainty is largely based on A-Rod’s self-reported weight gain and weight training progress during high school. The New York Daily News published excerpts from Roberts’ new book “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez“
“He said as a sophomore he could barely bench press 100 pounds,” Roberts said. “Six months later he’s bulked up 20-25 pounds and he had increased his level from 100 pounds to 310 pounds. That’s a pretty shocking leap for six months. That, in conjuntion with the reporting that I did with [his high school] teammates would make it irrefutable to me, not a ‘may have.’”
Selena Roberts’ credibility has taken a major hit from these comments. Roberts inexplicably ignores the dramatic weight gain that normally occurs in boys during high school without the use of steroids. The CDC growth charts reveal teenage boys normally gain 35-45 lbs. during high school. Roberts also appears unfamiliar with the dramatic increases in strength and muscle mass that novice weightlifters experience when first engaging in a resistance training program particularly when accompanied by a bodybuilding-type diet. Any male that has started bodybuilding during puberty knows that a 20-25 weight gain is not unusual without the use of anabolic steroids.
April 28, 2009
MLB baseball player J.C. Romero has filed a civil lawsuit against the manufacturers and distributors of the 6-OXO Extreme. 6-OXO Extreme is sold as a dietary supplement and marketed as an aromatase inhibitor. Romero blames androstenedione contamination in the supplement for his positive anabolic steroid test results administered on August 26, 2008 under the Major League Baseball (MLB) drug policy. Romero of the Philadelphia Philles was suspended for 50 games as a result (”Suspended Phillie Romero files suit,” April 28).
The lawsuit names Ergopharm, Proviant Technologies, GNC and Vitamin Shoppe as the four defendants accused of negligence, intentional misrepresentation and consumer fraud. Chemist Patrick Arnold formulated and manufactured the supplement 6-OXO Extreme for his companies Erogpharm and Proviant. J.C. Romero’s lawyers have defended numerous athletes accused of doping after failing drug tests like Floyd Landis, Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Jessica Hardy and Deuce McAllister (”Suspended Phillies reliever J.C. Romero suing supplement makers over positive steroid test,” April 28).
The lawsuit against Ergopharm, Proviant, GNC and Vitamin Shoppe is surprisingly frivolous [misdirected] given the expertise of Romero’s lawyers which include Howard Jacobs and David Cornwell. The main issue in the case is the claim that the failure to disclose androstenedione contamination in 6-OXO Extreme by the defendents was THE REASON that J.C. Romero tested positive for anabolic steroids; this subsequently resulted in his suspension and the forfeiture of $1,245,902 in salary.
The fact is that J.C. Romero would have tested positive for anabolic steroids and received a suspension IN THE ABSENCE of ANY androstenedione contamination. The supplement 6-OXO itself would have triggered a false positive for androstenedione since it is metabolized into 6a-OH-androstenedione; this is the same urinary metabolite produced by androstenedione. The issue of androstenedione contamination is nothing more than a red herring. Read more
March 31, 2009
The 1992 landmark steroids in sports investigation codenamed Operation Equine by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) resulted in the convictions of Curtis Wenzlaff and over seventy individuals for steroid distribution and trafficking and the seizure of more than 10 million anabolic steroid dosage units. FBI Special Agents Bill Randall and Greg Stejskal uncovered evidence linking steroids to Major League Baseball (MLB) players including Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire; they even obtained details of steroid cycles purported used by McGwire. The steroid-using athletes were ignored at a time when the federal government targeted steroid dealers (”Discovery’s ‘Undercover: Double Life’ features ‘Operation Equine’,” March 30).
“It’s amazing to see the snowball effect all these years later. I believed in (Operation Equine) and I think it’s come full circle,” Randall told the Daily News on Sunday while grilling steaks outdoors at his suburban Michigan home. “The thrust of Equine was to get traffickers, which is kind of unfortunate. I think we could have gone further, but the problem was the mind-set then. It was like, ‘It’s just steroids.’”
The federal government has taken the opposite approach with the recent BALCO steroid investigation. Fewer than a handful of individuals were convicted of steroid distribution and professional athletes like Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, and Tammy Thomas have clearly been targeted by the government. IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky has become a media superstar and bonafide anti-steroid crusader. Operation Equine Agents Bill Randall and Greg Stejskal did not receive any such celebrity treatment and had become somewhat obscure characters in the war on steroids. But that is changing now that hunting steroid-using athletes has become a priority for the federal government. Now, the Discovery Channel is paying tribute Agents Randall and Stejskal in the series Undercover: Double Life “Bill Randall: Operation Equine” on the cable network Discovery Investigations Read more
March 29, 2009
The death of Mexican wrestler Andrés Palomeque, better known as the “Abismo Negro”, has been linked to anabolic steroids by the local coroner. Physician Jesús Enrique Castro López examined the body of the 37-year old Palomeque and concluded that his death was precipitated by an anxiety attack possibly resulting from the consumption of anabolic steroids. Castro made the conclusion solely based on the prevalence of steroid use in sports; the medical examiner’s “opinion” was not based on toxicology tests that determined if any drugs were present in Palomeque’s system (”Extraña muerte de luchador Mexicano “Abismo Negro,” March 25).
Las investigaciones realizadas por autoridades locales indican que el deportista solicitó al chofer de la unidad Elite le permitiera bajar, con una actitud nerviosa y sufriendo de crisis de ansiedad, debido a posible consumo de anabólicos muy comunes dentro de la sociedad deportista, según Jesús Enrique Castro López, medico legista.
Andres Alejandro González Palomeque was found dead near a river in El Rosario, Mexico early Saturday morning on March 21, 2009. There was no medical evidence to support anabolic steroid-induced anxiety attack as the cause of death. An autopsy was not conducted. Furthermore, the circumstance surrounding the death of Andrés Palomeque were suspicious with speculation that foul play could have been involved. Read more
March 19, 2009
The CBS Early Show investigated anabolic steroid use by high school athletes in Louisiana on March 17-18, 2009. The investigative report by CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella targeted two sports supplement products identified as Genetic Edge Technologies Tren-250 and Tri-City Chemicals Xtreme Tren. Cobiella interviewed athletes at Opelousas High School and Eunice High School who used the supplement identified as “tren”. “Tren” contains an allegedly legal “pro-steroidal” ingredient used in a variety of “pro-steroidal” supplements (”High Schoolers Unknowingly Taking Steroids,” March 18).
Don Catlin, the infamous steroid hunter who runs the Anti-Doping Research lab, tested Xtreme Tren and confirmed the presence of estra-4,9-diene-3,17-dione. Catlin also found trace amounts of 19-norandrostenedione that were not listed on the label. “‘Tren’ is not a supplement at all, it masquerades as a supplement but it is really a powerful potent anabolic steroid,” according to Don Catlin.
William Llewellyn, author of the authoritative anabolic steroid reference manual “Anabolics“, clarifies the conditions under which natural steroid ingredients that can be legally sold over the counter.
If a steroid is found in the food supply naturally, and not regulated as a controlled substance, it may be legal to sell as a dietary supplement. The Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA) is intended to protect ingredients that are natural and already consumed by the public. Depending on if you believe the story or the label, “tren” is either a steroid known as “estra-4,9-diene-3,17-dione” or “estra-4,9,11-triene-3,17-dione” . There is no known source for either steroid in nature. I have to agree with Don Catlin’s assessment that “tren” is not a supplement, but a synthetic designer steroid. Since the designer steroid “tren” is not natural, it is considered a misbranded drug under federal law.
It is important to note that estra-4,9-diene-3,17-dione is NOT legally defined as an “anabolic steroid” under the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 and 2004. Instead, it may be classified as a “misbranded drug” instead of a dietary supplement.
The CBS Early Show investigation into anabolic steroid use by high school athletes reveals how the war on steroids will attack the sports supplement industry and the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Read more
March 5, 2009
Former baseball player Darryl Strawberry admits he would have eagerly used anabolic steroids if they had been readily available during the 1980s in Major League Baseball. In a rare display of honesty from a pro athlete on the topic of steroids, Strawberry acknowledges the appeal of steroids to highly competitive athletes (”Strawberry says he would have taken steroids,” March 3).
“Hell yeah, I would have used them. Are you kidding me? I mean, come on. We’re competitive creatures and we have tremendous drive, high tolerance, all these things. I’m not saying that was the right thing to do. But if that was going on in the ’80s, that probably would have been in my system, too. I wouldn’t have denied it because you guys know I don’t deny anything.”
If Strawberry had not been consumed with self-destructive addictions that derailed his career perhaps he would have been more focused on behaviors that would have actually enhanced his performance e.g. anabolic steroids.
Ironically, Darryl Strawberry will probably not be judged as harshly as contemporary MLB players who have, either through admission or implication, been linked to performance enhancing drugs. Strawberry’s numerous off-field transgressions involving his cocaine addiction, sexual escapades, and spousal abuse did not improve his performance on the field; therefore, the general public and baseball fans who decry athletes of the so-called steroid era of baseball are not as offended by Strawberry’s misdeeds. A history of substance abuse, domestic violence involving various women including a pregnant woman, failure to pay child support are one thing but the use of steroids apparently represents an unforgiveable violation that forever tarnishes a player’s reputation. Read more
