The federal government continued their steroid witch-hunt targeting the dietary supplement industry with a raid of Bodybuilding.com on Thursday, September 24, 2009. The criminal investigation accuses Bodybuilding.com and its corporate officers of illegal marketing and distributing several anabolic steroids, unapproved new and misbranded drugs labeled fraudulently as dietary supplements, specifically “Madol”, “Tren”, “Superdrol”, “Androstenedione”, and “Turinabol”.
Only androstenedione and Turinabol are legally classified as anabolic steroids; these ingredients were not disclosed on the product labels. The FDA has asserted that Madol, Tren and Superdrol are also anabolic steroids. However, only the DEA has the authority to administratively add these substances to the Controlled Substances list. The DEA has NOT yet made this determination. These ingredients have been widely and openly sold as listed ingredients in dietary supplements for years.
The FDA media strategy most likely intentionally staged the raid to coincide with the first day of the 2009 Olympia Weekend. The Olympia Expo, the centerpiece of the Olympia Weekend, includes a large number of sports nutrition companies as exhibitors. The Bodybuilding.com has had a prominent presence at the Expo for several years and is the main sponsor of the 2009 IFBB Mr. Olympia, the top competition in professional bodybuilding. Read more
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
The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) appears to be using deceptive and misleading spin tactics to manipulate public opinion in their defense of J.C. Romero and Sergio Mitre. The MLB baseball players have been suspended after testing positive for androstenedione which is classified as an anabolic steroid under the MLB drug policy. The MLBPA unfairly and erroneously attempts to blame the positive steroid test on a “minute trace” of androstenedione contamination in the dietary supplement 6-OXO by Ergopharm; these assertions have been made in the absence of lab analysis showing contamination Read more
J.C. Romero of the Philadelphia Philles and Sergio Mitre of the New York Yankees have both been suspended for 50 games for testing positive for anabolic steroids under the Major League Baseball (MLB) drug policy. In a seemingly well-planned, but scientifically flawed, public relations campaign, Romero and Mitre allege the positive steroid test resulted from the respective ingestion of the dietary supplements 6-OXO by Ergopharm and Halodrol Liquigels by Gaspari Nutrition purchased from GNC. The listed ingredient of 4-etioallocholen-3,6, 17-trione in 6-OXO and Halodrol, while banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), is NOT explicitly prohibited by MLB. The players allege that 6-OXO and Halodrol were contaminated with androstenedione which was not disclosed on the label. Androstenedione has been prohibited by MLB since 2004.
Chemist Patrick Arnold says that his company Ergopharm tests their products for purity explaining that any potential contamination would be in the “parts per billion” range and would have no physiological effect. Read more
Patrick Arnold of Ergopharm tells me that he is angered by the conviction of cyclist Tammy Thomas today. She was convicted of three counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. In his email, Pat tells MESO-Rx:
I feel saddened and disgusted by Tammy’s conviction. Its been almost FIVE YEARS since Balco. Why are we still going after athletes? How can a wound ever heal if we keep sticking our fingers in it? They say its for the kids. Well how does keeping steroids in the news over and over again do anything except arouse their curiousity? This is not about the kids. Its about the careers and egos of federal politicians, prosecutors, and law enforcement agents.
When the jury read the conviction in court today, Tammy Thomas addressed the prosecution and jury that convicted her (”Cyclist Tammy Thomas convicted in steroids case,” April 4). Read more
Steroid chemist Patrick Arnold of Ergopharm testified in San Francisco federal court today in the perjury case against cyclist Tammy Thomas. Pat Arnold said under oath that THG was explicitly created to avoid detection by athletes subject to doping controls. He admitted to selling tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) to Victor Conte of BALCO and directly by mail to Tammy Thomas. (”Chemist testifies he created steroid at the heart of BALCO scandal,” March 25)
THG was also known as “the clear” because it was not detectable at the time Arnold developed it in about 2001.
Under questioning by prosecutor Jeff Nedrow, Arnold said, “That’s the primary reason why THG was developed.”
Arnold also said, “I believe that Miss Thomas understood full well it was undetectable and that that was its purpose.”
He said he believed the cyclist understood the drug had “steroid-like qualities.”
Tammy Thomas denied ever receiving any products from Pat Arnold other than Ergopharm 1-AD; she denied receiving anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs from Pat Arnold or anyone else; she denied using anabolic steroids.
