The documentary focused on the state-sponsored East German doping program and the secret administration of anabolic steroids to female children without their knowledge or consent (or parental consent). The goal of the film was not to necessarily demonize steroids but to condemn a state-sponsored doping system that superceded individual choice to pursue victory at all costs even the victimization of children.
Clearly, there is a big difference between healthy adult men who “choose” to use anabolic steroids and little girls who are “forced” to use unknown substances by government bureaucratics without regard for their health. The documentary interviews four athletes (Ute Krause, Rica Reinisch, Katharina Bullin, and Heidi Krieger aka Andres Krieger) that were involuntarily subjected to steroid use as young girls and chronicles how it affected their lives.
Under the auspices of East Germany’s elite sports federation, headed by Manfred Ewald and monitored by the Ministry of State Security (known as Stasi), the government used doping as part of a deceptive master plan to secure international prestige through success in sports. Girls as young as 12 were recruited from across the country, and without their knowledge, were regularly administered untested steroids and male hormones as part of their training. Ultimately, Olympic gold came at a disturbing price for many of the German athletes, specificially side effects ranging from male-type hair growth and deepened voices to liver and heart disease, depression, infertility, miscarriages, and even death.
The film lists various documented side effects of anabolic steroids (such as Jenapharm’s Oral Turinabol and STS-646) based on Stasi records and long-term medical records of athletes affected. But it also makes some spurious connections to other side effects such as self-mutilation, breast cancer, and changes in sexual identity.
Many critics seek to connect the East German steroid scandal with contemporary doping scandals. Since the scandals all involve steroids, the suggestion is that steroid use in sports could possibly lead to a repeat of East German tragedies if we are not careful. According to a Plain Dealer television critic:
What emerges from this “Secrets of the Dead” installment is a cautionary tale for individuals and sports organizations wrestling with the curse of drugs.
Watching how athletes’ health, sexuality and lives were so willingly traded for Olympic medals, you can’t help but wonder what pressures are at work in the U.S. where so many athletes choose to ingest potentially career-ending and physically damaging drugs.
However, the lack of consent and forcible/abusive nature of steroid use by East Germany clearly differentiates the Stasi doping program from subsequent steroid scandals.
America’s performance-enhancing appetite has never been bigger. And it’s not just in professional sports or Hollywood. From high school locker rooms to anti-aging clinics, our nation is embracing steroids and human growth hormones like never before, spurring a furious debate about the ethics of enhancement. Join Christopher Bell, who documented his brothers’ struggle to be “the best,” BALCO founder Victor Conte, Jon Romano and Mark Haskins in a provocative discussion about the pitfalls and promise of the asterisk era, and where we go from here. Moderated by Steroid Nation author Shaun Assael.
New Yorkers have really embraced the film; this was confirmed firsthand by Anthony Roberts who had the opportunity to see Bigger Faster Stronger for the second time witnessing a large crowd of bodybuilders at the screening. Several sports writers, bloggers, and movie critics have screened the film at Tribeca and have written mostly positive reviews.
If anyone had the opportunity to attend the panel discussion, please post your reactions to the event in the comments below.
Three of the seven co-defendants indicted for their role in David Jacobs’ Texas-based steroid distribution network were sentenced today including David Jacobs. All seven co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty. David Jacobs, Amber Jarrell and Matt Williams all received probation along with a monetary fine based on their respective role in the steroid operation (”Plano steroids supplier wants to help clean up NFL,” May 2)
Sentenced Thursday:Mr. Jacobs, 35, ringleader, three years’ probation and a $25,000 fine. Amber Jarrell, 37, of Plano, his former girlfriend, three years’ probation and a $1,000 fine. Matt Williams, 39, of Dallas, who helped bottle and store the steroids, three years’ probation and a $10,000 fine.
Awaiting sentences:Andrew Schenck of Dallas; Juan Carlos Ballivian of Houston; Brandon Mark Smith of the Dallas area; and Jamie Mongeau of Wichita, Kan.
The ringleader of one of the largest steroids trafficking networks in the nation said Thursday after he was sentenced to probation that he plans to meet with the NFL to share his expertise to help “clean up” football.
“I want to help them understand the loopholes, how I was able to help people beat the tests, and how prevalent steroid use is,” Plano bodybuilder David Jacobs said after his sentencing hearing.
Jacobs, a former body builder, said he advised about 10 N.F.L. players on how to exploit loopholes in the league’s drug-testing program. One way, he said, was to have team doctors write them prescriptions for drugs that would mask steroid use…
Jacobs said he advised players, including Lehr, to ask their team doctors to write them prescriptions for finasteride, a drug used to treat balding in young men. Jacobs said a Falcons team doctor wrote Lehr a prescription for the substance.
Now that the leader of one of the largest steroid distribution rings in the country was sentenced to probation along with two other co-conspirators, it seems to confirm that steroid dealers were not the targets of the federal steroid investigation in Texas. It appears that the real targets of the investigation are professional athletes, namely NFL football players with David Jacobs providing the steroids and football link.
The New York Times highlights the “testosterone loophole” in anti-doping tests reporting on a recent study that finally explains the phenomena that allows some athletes to get away with indiscriminate use of exogenous testosterone. This is the same study that has been discussed in the blogosphere for over a month on various doping and steroid-related websites including MESO-Rx, Steroid Report, Trust But Verify and Rant Your Head Off. But the New York Times story will provide mainstream exposure to the weakness in current doping protocols implemented by WADA using the testosterone:epitestosterone (T:E) ratio test (”Some Athletes’ Genes Help Outwit Doping Test,” April 30).
Researchers have long known that some men, Asians in particular, seemed to be able to take the drugs without getting caught, although no one had identified the cause of the phenomenon. Without gene testing, there is no way to know whether any athletes have exploited this doping loophole, but Dr. Catlin says he suspects some athletes discovered their invulnerability by accident and took advantage of it.
Men with the gene deletion still metabolize testosterone, Dr. Schulze says. But, she adds, she does not know where the hormone goes. “We have no idea,” she said. “That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
The gene in question adds a chemical, glucuronide, to testosterone. That converts it from a substance that dissolves in oil into one that dissolves in water and urine.
Athletes with a specific gene deletion (UGT2B17 homozygous deletion/deletiongenotype) are genetically predisposed to pass the testosterone doping test.
The results were unambiguous: the test worked for most of the men, showing that they had taken the drug. But 17 of the men tested negative. Their urine seemed fine, with no excess testosterone even though the men clearly had taken the drug.
It was, researchers say, a striking demonstration of a genetic discovery. Those 17 men can build muscles with testosterone, they respond normally to the hormone, but they are missing both copies of a gene used to convert the testosterone into a form that dissolves in urine. The result is that they may be able to take testosterone with impunity.
The New York Times also reports that the “prevalence in other groups is not known.” But this is inaccurate. As reported in MESO-Rx last month, there is a lot of data on other groups involving the UGT2B17 gene.
(Thanks to Rehan Jalali of TSRF for alerting me to the Times article.)
Mr. Jacobs, 35, said, “I sold steroids and a significant amount of growth hormone to Matt Lehr.” He said Mr. Lehr’s purchases totaled tens of thousands of dollars from spring 2006 to spring 2007, significantly larger quantities than could be for personal use.
At one point, Mr. Jacobs said, Mr. Lehr agreed to have boxes of raw steroid powder from China shipped to Mr. Lehr’s house in Georgia. Mr. Jacobs said he asked his former friend to do this because too many packages headed to his Plano house were being seized by U.S. Customs.
David Jacobs has previously denied providing federal prosecutors with the names of customers who bought steroids from him stressing that evidence and associations with Lehr were established independent of his cooperation. He has repeatedly been advised by his attorney to avoid publicly naming names. Why did Jacobs name Matt Lehr this weekend?
Mr. Jacobs said he was speaking out now because he was angry about Mr. Coggins’ statements last week to The News.
“We have been told by the prosecutors that they do not intend to bring charges against Matt Lehr in connection with their ongoing steroid investigation,” Mr. Coggins said Wednesday.
“It’s an issue of right and wrong,” Mr. Jacobs said. “I’m taking responsibility for my actions. And I’m not blaming people for my mistakes. I’m not going to lay down while other people attack my character and my integrity and accuse me of extortion and lies and making up information. It’s time for Matt to be a man.”
Paul Coggins, Matt Lehr’s attorney, claims that David Jacobs is providing false information in exchange for prosecutorial leniency in sentencing; Coggins also told the New York Times that Jacobs tried to extort money from Matt Lehr.
“He threatened Matt and said you have to pay my attorney’s fees or I am going to end your career,” Coggins said in a telephone interview on Saturday. He said Lehr met Jacobs when they were bodybuilders.
“Jacobs saw Matt as a guy with a lot of money and Matt declined to pay his fees,” Coggins added.
Coggins, the former United States attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said he had represented Lehr for three months. “We are confident that the more the feds look at Jacobs, the less credible of a source of information he becomes,” Coggins said.
It will be interesting to see how Matt Lehr’s attorney responds to David Jacobs’ latest allegations along with evidence of significant financial links between Lehr and Jacobs.
If you catch the Tribeca screening, I strongly encourage you to take the time to meet with director Christopher Bell and co-producers Tamsin Rawady and Alex Buono.
“Bigger Stronger Faster*” opens today for the New York City premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival for the first of four screenings at the festival.
Sat, Apr 26, 9:00PM Tishman Auditorium at The New School
The review article profiles steroid dealer David Jacobs and his introduction to anabolic steroids, his integration into the bodybuilding scene, his networking with pro football players, his decision to import and manufacture anabolic steroids, his steroid bust, the dismantling of the Texas steroid network, and his ostracism from the bodybuilding community (”Plano resident’s steroid distribution ring was one of the largest in U.S.,” April 24).
I recommend reading the complete article for a better understanding of the chronology and scope of the Texas steroid investigation. Below are a few excerpts.
David Jacobs’ decision to manufacture and distribute anabolic steroids:
At Lewisville Lake’s Party Cove one weekend, he met his first pro bodybuilder, Art Atwood. The two became friends, and Mr. Atwood helped train the up-and-coming rookie.
Both men were taking steroids, but were unhappy with shoddy Mexican imports.
Mr. Jacobs went online and found a solution: recipes for steroids using raw Chinese powder. Mr. Jacobs soon parlayed his knowledge of Asia, gleaned during his Nokia business trips, into contacts with English-speaking middlemen to the Chinese steroid powder factories.
Sloppy packaging that led to steroid bust:
On March 19, 2007, the United Parcel Service intercepted a soggy package sent from Mr. Jacobs’ Plano home, bound for Wichita, Kan. When officials opened the box, they found a broken glass vial of what turned out to be steroids.
Authorities arrested the man in Kansas who had ordered steroids from Mr. Jacobs, court documents say. Jamie Mongeau, an amateur bodybuilder, told investigators that Mr. Jacobs was his supplier.
Ostracism from bodybuilding community:
Brian Dobson, owner of Arlington’s MetroFlex gym, which produced eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman and where Mr. Jacobs used to train with other bodybuilding friends, said that since his bust, Mr. Jacobs has been ostracized by the bodybuilding community he once serviced.
“A lot of people hate him,” Mr. Dobson said. “To a lot of the other guys who were his buddies, once he got caught, he became the black plague.”
The full text of the article is available on the Dallas Morning News website.
“We have been told by the prosecutors that they do not intend to bring charges against Matt Lehr in connection with their ongoing steroid investigation,” said Paul Coggins in Dallas. “After reviewing the evidence gathered to date, the government reached the right conclusion.”
John Ratcliffe, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, which is conducting the investigation, would not confirm Mr. Coggins’ statement.
“We are actively investigating the distribution of illegal steroids and human growth hormone,” he said. “As a matter of policy, we neither identify nor comment upon persons of interest in ongoing investigations.”
A source close to the steroid investigation told MESO-Rx that the steroids and football investigation is far from over. Whether the ongoing investigation involves Matt Lehr remains to be seen.
A federal investigation in North Texas uncovered one of the largest anabolic steroid distribution networks in the country; evidence seized during the course of the investigation allegedly implicated Matt Lehr. According to the Dallas Morning News and New York Times, a grand jury was convened with subpoenas for at least a couple of NFL players (former and active) to testify against Lehr for alleged steroid distribution in the NFL.
Australian Customs has reported over 300 anabolic steroid seizures during the first three months of the year. This reportedly exceeds steroid seizures from previous years. The increase in steroid shipments confiscated by customs prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing is similar to increases seen prior to the 2000 Sydney Olympics (”Steroid imports not ‘linked to athletes,’” April 22).
The hike comes with the Beijing Olympic Games looming in August and follows a similar increase before the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) chief executive Richard Ings said the organisation works closely with customs and is notified of any involvement by Australian athletes in importing performance-enhancing drugs.
“If customs are indicating that they are seeing an increase in seizures, there is no suggestion those products were bound for athletes,” he told AAP.
Authorities attribute the increase in steroid seizures to greater demand by bodybuilders and weightlifters in an “image culture.”
Following the revelation of an international doping scandal centered in Austria, the Austrian government has announced legislation that will criminalize mere possession of anabolic steroid and/or other performance enhancing drugs. Previously, there was no punishment for possession of steroids (”Austria to tighten anti-doping law,” April 18).
Legislation to tighten Austria’s anti-doping laws by criminalising possession of performance-enhancing substances are to be unveiled this summer, the government announced on Friday.
According to proposals to be unveiled in early July, it will be a criminal offence to be found in possession of doping substances above a certain quantity, said Roland Achatz, spokesperson for sports secretary Reinhold Lopatka.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis pledged yesterday to tighten the country’s anti-doping laws in a bid to stamp out illegal substance abuse among athletes.
”A special committee was formed… to consider more stringent administrative and criminal sanctions against those who use, provide and market banned substances,” Karamanlis told Parliament.
The “internationalization of steroid law” predicted by Philip Sweitzer is becoming a reality.
The internationalized, fascistic nature of current steroid law enforcement policy thus emerges. Hegemony is its stated goal, that U.S. policy must be tantamount to international policy: all nations must conform to the legal standard of the United States. We must all think alike… The “internationalization” of steroid law, however, is also troubling for its politicization and heavy-handed reliance on dishonest notions of morality, cheating, and “protecting our children,” rather than science…
A full analysis of the internationalization of steroid law by Sweitzer can be found in “AAS Across the Atlantic: The “Americanization” and Politicization of International Steroid Law” (appearing on MESO-Rx this month).
, and included Chris Bell, John Romano of 
