The Australian Government Solicitator has ruled that a secret pilot program involving the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and Medicare was illegal. ASADA had been reviewing government Medicare prescription records and cross-referencing them with names of athletes in an effort to catch athletes using prohibited substances. Not surprisingly to anyone, the Government Solicitator determined that ASADA illegally violated athlete privacy and doctor-patient confidentiality (”Secret athlete drug probe ‘illegal’, says Government Solicitor,” May 20).
An ASADA spokesperson was unapologetic about the illegality of their methods and privacy issues involved. After all, the ASADA illegal invasion of medical privacy program was a “world first” and apparently justified because it was “aimed at catching drug cheats who might otherwise escape detection.”
The spokesperson even bragged that they were deserving of an apology for the “embarrassment” and “difficult position” placed on ASADA by revelations of the illegal program.
ASADA continues to work with Customs and other agencies including the Australian Federal Police, but has now been forced to scrap the pilot program. It was a world first and part of a suite of measures aimed at catching drug cheats who might otherwise escape detection.
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Insisting ASADA had acted in good faith, the ASADA spokeswoman said the agency had received an apology from the AGS “for any embarrassment and for the difficult position in which this has placed ASADA”.
Sometimes people within anti-doping agencies feel their moral authority justifies their unfair, and sometimes illegal, persecution of athletes in their pursuit of integrity in sports.
Kate Ellis, the new Australian Sports Minister, was considerably more reasonable in her comments to the press, acknowledging the anti-doping agencies must also play by the rules too.
Ms Ellis, who spoke at a meeting of world anti-doping investigators in Sydney recently, at which ASADA is understood to have outlined its methods, said the fight against performance-enhancing drugs needed to be tough but fair.
“If athletes are drug cheats then we will use every fair and legal avenue to ensure they get caught and appropriately sanctioned,” Ms Ellis said.
Former NPC Bodybuilder Tom Vigliatura has been falsely accused of selling steroids by reporter Lee Hammel of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette newspaper in Massachusetts. However, I am certain that this false accusation is the least of Thomas Vigliatura’s concerns; Vigliatura has been in prison since August 2005. He was sentenced this week to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit his home and his defunct supplement store, T. Vig’s Sports Supplements Unlimited for selling Ecstasy, Cocaine and GHB – but NOT steroids (”Bodybuilder gets 51 months, forfeits home and business,” March 24).
Thomas J. Vigliatura, 40, of 118 Santoro Road, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy from 2002 to 2004 to distribute illegal steroids known as GHB and GBL and to possess cocaine and Ecstasy as well as distribution of GBL and GHB.
Reporter Lee Hammel wants to throw in steroid distribution as one of the charges when he erroneously identifies GHB and GBL as steroids. It upsets me that so many reporters remain blissfully ignorant about anabolic steroids and fail to perform even basic fact checking when it comes to basic questions like “what are anabolic steroids?” Why should reporters stick to the facts? Maybe Hammel just assumed that he was selling anabolic steroids since, after all, Vigliatura was a competitive bodybuilder.
Anabolic steroids are already being demonized by the current tidal wave of steroid hysteria permeating the United States. There is no need to false associate steroids to a criminal case involving cocaine and ecstasy, police corruption and threats against a federal prosecutor that has nothing to do with steroids. But anything to further demonize steroids must be the new journalistic standard?
Thanks to reporter Lee Hammel, the Associated Press has picked up the story and syndicated it nationally using Hammel’s inaccurate reporting regarding steroids (”Bodybuilder sentenced on drug charges,” March 25).
Thomas Vigliatura pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute illegal steroids and possession of cocaine and Ecstasy…
Information from: Telegram & Gazette, http://www.telegram.com
The distribution of drugs like cocaine, ecstasy, and GHB has been a different enterprise from the distribution of anabolic steroids. (Although this distinction is starting to disappear as the federal steroid witch hunt threatens to push the entire steroid market completely underground.) The differences in cocaine/ecstasy/GHB distribution and anabolic steroid distribution is highlighted by the former group’s reluctance to testify or “snitch” on co-conspirators and the latter group’s widespread and eager willingness to “rat out” co-conspirators in exchange for leniency (”Bodybuilder’s sentence is bulked up by judge: six months,” July 27, 2007).
[Thomas J. Vigliatura] reiterated his contention that he refused to testify out of fear of reprisal to himself and his family…
“In no way was I trying to attempt to impede justice in any way,” Mr. Vigliatura told the judge before sentencing. “Most of you don’t know what it’s like where I live.”
Mr. Vigliatura’s real concern is his “reputation as a stand-up guy…”
Mr. Vigliatura did not want to be known as “a cooperator, snitch, rat, informant.”
Steroid dealers and distributors have not historically had the same concerns. But the federal war on steroids is close to succeeding at making the underground anabolic steroid market more dangerous than ever before for steroid users and steroid dealers alike.
The U.S. federal and state government witch hunt targeting steroids users and steroid distributors has reached levels of absurdity. Can it get worse? Yes. Australia offers insight into radical governmental efforts at cracking down on athletes who use anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (”Secret Anti-Doping Probe,” March 14).
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) has secretly been reviewing government Medicare prescription records and cross-referencing them with names of athletes in an effort to catch athletes using prohibited substances.
But the Medicare trial is likely to be controversial, given doctor-patient confidentiality and the fact it involves drugs that only athletes are banned from using.
ASADA chairman Richard Ings yesterday confirmed the trial had taken place, but declined to say how many athletes’ records had been accessed, how the information was able to be shared, or what action would be taken for any breaches.
Mr Ings said the trial was within the bounds of ASADA and Medicare legislation and the Privacy Act and that the authority had sought the advice of the Australian Government Solicitor.
The Australian efforts at catching steroid-using athletes have almost assumed the importance of national security issues with concerted intelligence gathering procedures.
Mr Ings said ASADA had to go beyond just testing athletes and would work with any agency or organisation to crack down on drugs in sport.
“Testing alone just scratches the surface,” he said.
ASADA now collects more intelligence on drug cheats, conducts targeted operations, and tries to predict the likelihood of certain athletes using performance-enhancing drugs.
Australia is not satisfied with merely catching athletes who have committed “sports fraud” crimes. They have taken it a step further and hope to predict future anabolic steroid use in athletes! “Excuse me sir, but you have been disqualified because psychological tests indicate that there is a high probability that you may use steroids in the future.”
Using this practice to target specific athletes will lead to discriminatory abuse.
Bob Lee, the district attorney for Santa Cruz County, has an explanation for the huge quantity of anabolic steroids and growth hormone linked to a man indicted for steroid importation and distribution – he was a steroid addict!
“Like many people who are involved in drugs, they have to pay for that addiction somehow. It appears he’s stolen from his family for years and years,” Lee said.
According to DA Bob Lee, James Edward Moore, Jr’s steroid addiction was so severe that he had to steal significant amounts of money from his father. The District Attorney has filed misdemeanor charges of grand theft and is preparing to file felony charges for theft and identity theft.
A recent survey of “male adult non-medical anabolic steroid users” offered a clearer picture of the average steroid user. Apparently Bob Lee is unaware that anabolic steroid users are not like abusers of illicit narcotic drugs.
“Although often considered similar to abusers of narcotics and other illicit drugs (e.g., heroin or cocaine), non-medical anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users follow carefully planned drug regimens in conjunction with a healthy diet, ancillary drugs and exercise,” said Jack Darkes, a study co-author.
“As opposed to the spontaneous and haphazard approach seen in abusers of psychotropic drugs, everything is strategically planned to maximize benefits and minimize harm.”
