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
Reporters from around the country have descended upon Houston, Texas pursuing their steroid witch hunt against anyone who may have used steroids or could have potentially provided anabolic steroids to Major League Baseball players e.g. Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. The targets in their steroid investigation have expanded from fitness professionals Kelly Blair (of 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness) and Shaun Kelley (of Shaun Kelley Weight Control) to at least one Houston-area physician.
In the absence of evidence connecting Shaun Kelley with providing steroids to Roger Clemens, speculation surrounds Lisa Routh, M.D. of Brainwaves Neuroimaging Clinic in Houston who worked with Shaun Kelley.
There is no evidence that Dr. Routh prescribed steroids to Roger Clemens or any major league baseball player for that matter but she was outspoken in her defense of the use of anabolic steroids in medicine. She admits to prescribing testosterone and growth hormone to policemen, professional wrestlers, and people who work out in an effort to improve their quality of life. Furthermore, Dr. Routh proposed that professional athletes be permitted to use performance enhancing drugs under a doctor’s supervision (”Houston-area gyms part of drug culture beyond sports scope,” March 16).
Interviews with Routh, of the Brainwaves Medical Center in Houston, and with eight former and current employees of Kelley, reveal a corner of the fitness industry where the same drugs that are stigmatizing professional sports are seen simply as a lifestyle choice for others.
Routh told The News that she regularly prescribed testosterone and human growth hormone for a large number of Boston policemen, who “get on a frickin’ plane and come down here twice a year, for frickin’ growth hormone and testosterone.”
She said she prescribes other hormones for menopausal women and professional wrestlers – all in the name of quality of life. Furthermore she argued for legalizing such drugs in professional sports, provided athletes have medical care.
“We pay them ridiculously, because we expect performance, and I think the bottom line is safety,” says Routh, who proposes allowing big-league baseball clubs to contract with five or 10 doctors in every city who would be the only league-approved providers of drugs. Players caught going elsewhere for their ‘roids would get hit with a fine.
“If someone wants to use human growth hormone or a testosterone product, they need to be under a physician’s supervision,” says Routh. “If they buy stuff off the black market or off some gym rat and they’re not under a doctor’s supervision, they should pay a penalty, and they should get the penalty that hurts, in the wallet.”
The Daily News also persists in its efforts to tarnish and incriminate fitness professionals in Houston. They continued their attack on 1-on -1 Elite Personal Fitness (even though Kelly Blair categorically denied their allegations) by reporting that co-owner Kevin Schexnider was prescribed testosterone cypionate and Anadrol by Revolution Medical Center in Phoenix several years ago; further Schexnider knew former bodybuilder Craig Titus who is awaiting trial on murder charges.
Kelly Blair, the owner of 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness near Houston, was identified as the source of the human growth hormone used by baseball player Andy Pettitte. We reported allegations that Andy Pettitte obtained it from his father who allegedly obtained it from Blair; there were further suggestions that a former bodybuilder awaiting trial on murder charges supplied Blair’s gym with anabolic steroids.
Has Kelly Blair been falsely accused? The so-called steroid investigation is looking more and more like a steroid witch hunt with dubious accusations made against fitness professionals, particularly in the Houston area.
For the record, Kelly Blair denies that he ever gave growth hormone to the father of Andy Pettitte; but admits that if he were asked he would have shown no hesitation in helping Tommy Pettitte obtain human growth hormone for Andy (”Trainer denies he supplied HGH to Pettitte’s father,” March 14).
“If Tommy Pettitte would have come to me back in (2004) and asked for assistance in getting growth hormone, I wouldn’t have hesitated,” Blair told the Chronicle Friday morning. “I absolutely would have done it. Why wouldn’t I? I wouldn’t have thought he was getting it for Andy, so I would have done it in a heartbeat.
“But that didn’t happen.”
Blair sounds credible. He doesn’t deny his willingness to have helped secure HGH for Pettitte; he simply denies that he was ever asked.
