Howard Levine, M.D. of Northwest Lifestyle Medicine was sentenced to almost two years in prison for dealing anabolic steroids out of his Seattle medical office. According to court documents, Levine sold approximately FIFTY - 10mL vials of anabolic steroids (including nandrolone decanoate, stanozolol, testosterone enanthate, trenbolone acetate as well as oxymetholone tablets, human growth hormone, and nandrolone decanoate and testosterone gels) to two undercover agents and a paid DEA confidential source over the course of 18 months. Levine also sold several thousand dollars worth of anabolic steroids to a Las Vegas trainer for local bodybuilders on at least one occasion.
Over the course of the investigation, Dr. Levine was always alone in his medical office; there were no secretaries, nurses, or other administrative support staff present but he had a pool table a refrigerator full of beer. Levine never conducted any sort of medical assessment or history before prescribing steroids. During the course of the investigation, Levine discussed the resale of steroids by his clients including suggested prices. He also told his clients that they were considered drug dealers under the law and suggested that they refer their customers to him to avoid the possibility of criminal prosecution; he even offered to pay them a referral fee if they chose to do that.
Search warrants executed on Levine’s MSN and AOL email accounts (seattelmd@hotmail.com and ageisonlyanumber@aol.com) revealed that he sold steroids over the internet using the alias “Alan” where customers paid by credit card; there was no physical examination or medical questionnaire or any semblance of a doctor-patient relationship.
Levine was previously disciplined for selling Viagra over the internet via his company Confirmed.com LLC and ordered to cease selling prescription drugs via email and over the internet.
Levine was sentenced to prison for trying to extort $500,000 from Jack-in-the-Box stating that he was given spoiled chicken and threatening to take his story to the New York Times.
So we all agree that steroids are bad, right? They’ve brought suspicion and shame.
Then it got a little better. Dr. Gupta starts talking about the therapeutic use of anabolic steroids in HIV patients. He talks about the therapeutic uses of steroids.
He seems impressed that steroids can be good but then discusses how the therapeutic uses for steroids were “hijacked” by athletes and especially bodybuilders. Blame the bodybuilders. Parties responsible for the hijacking include the “Arnoldistas” or followers of Arnold Schwarzenegger who, according to Shaun Assael, created a steroid “religion.”
He blamed talked about the “Underground Steroid Handbook” but didn’t even mention the author, Dan Duchaine!
Then Dr. Gupta’s credibility takes a major hit when he talks about growth hormone.
Then there’s human growth hormone (HGH), derived from the pituitary gland.
HGH derived from pituitary glands has not been used in medicine in decades. It is all recombinant human growth hormone nowadays.
But that hope was dashed when I learned that when taking anabolic steroids, “there’s always the risk of, you know, heart weakening and liver tumors.” And then I [again] learned Lyle Alzado blamed his brain cancer on steroid abuse.
Gupta asks what can be done about a good drug gone bad? The first thing we should stop doing is stop associating Lyle Alzado’s brain cancer with his steroid abuse. Why do we persist in repeating this again and again with the standard disclaimer that there is no medical evidence to support it?
The San Diego Union-Tribune published a very interesting article about the side effects that occur when anabolic steroids are discontinued at the end of a cycle. The writer, Mark Zeigler, is of course talking about the anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH) that occurs when endogenous production of testosterone is suppressed.
Bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids are very familiar with this problem; it is widely recognized and widely discussed in the bodybuilding community. Various doctors, writers and bodybuilders have offered possible solutions. It is accepted within many bodybuilding circles that ASIH can be largely minimized if not completely avoided.
But nowhere in the article is their any suggestion that the ASIH can be avoided or treated. It is not necessarily the fault of the author; the medical profession does not recognize the treatment of ASIH; the government does not recognize treatment of ASIH. Consequently they do not approve of treatment for the side effects related to the cessation of anabolic steroids.
This just baffles me! Why would the side effects that come along with stopping steroid use, especially if they are as dangerous as claimed, be left untreated especially if that treatment is readily available? I mean it is no secret that Taylor Hooton’s parents and doctors took him off of anabolic steroids and within 6 weeks he committed suicide. Texas has passed legislation claiming “clinical depression [occurs] when steroid use is stopped.” Kirk Brower, M.D. has told Congress during the baseball hearings that “depressive episodes and suicide attempts are most likely to occur within three months of stopping AAS use.”
If there is a treatment to prevent or eliminate the side effects associated with cessation of anabolic steroids, it should be promoted and encouraged by the government and medical community. But why isn’t it?
(1) The steroid prohibition movement is about morality and not about health. To paraphrase Radley Balko, it is better to let a steroid user suffer (and even die) rather than administer a medical treatment that could eliminate steroid side effects and remove threat of suicide. The war against steroids has taken on the characteristics of the overarching war on drugs. Balko explains the drug policy:
This is the mentality of your modern drug warrior. We’re fighting drug use not because it’s dangerous or harmful, but because they believe drug use is, in and of itself, immoral.
Today’s drug war isn’t about saving lives, it’s about saving souls.
(2) If the side effects of steroids are successfully treated, it would encourage steroid users to continue using steroids. This is probably correct, but is that a worse outcome than making steroid users suffer for making a supposedly immoral choice? The Office Of National Drug Control Policy has a strong moral philosophy and opposition to harm reduction when it comes to drug use.
These so-called “harm reduction” strategies are poor public policy because their underlying philosophy involves giving up on those who can successfully recover from drug addiction.
Let’s abandon this morality play and truly focus on the health consequences of anabolic steroid use.
