The federal steroid investigation involving Applied Pharmacy Services has been linked to self-proclaimed anti-aging expert James Abernathy. Physician Pamela Pyle, of Personal Touch Aesthetic Laser and Skin Rejuvenation Center in Myrtle Beach, pleaded guilty to withholding information about illegal steroid distribution. She admitted to writing prescriptions for James Abernathy, owner and director of Body Solutions Rx (”Steroids probe,” May 4).
In March 2006, according to the plea agreement, Abernathy sent Pyle an e-mail asking her to write prescriptions for his customers until he could replace a physician who had retired.
When Pyle questioned the legality of the arrangement, Abernathy assured her that it was legal, according to her plea agreement.
The document lists 18 patients for whom Pyle wrote prescriptions for anabolic steroids. The orders totaled about $13,000, and Abernathy paid Pyle $60 for each customer, according to her plea agreement.
In each case, she never saw the patient and prescribed the exact combination of drugs that Abernathy recommended, according to her plea bargain. In some cases, she prescribed Trenbolone, a livestock drug.
James Abernathy defended his recommendations of trenbolone as appropriate while deflecting some of the responsibility for the recommendations to pharmacists at Applied Pharmacy Services.
In his interview with the Press-Register, Abernathy said Trenbolone is not a drug he ordinarily would recommend, although he added there could be some exceptions. He said that he relied on the expertise of the pharmacists at Applied Pharmacy.
Abernathy further defended the Body Solutions Rx clinic.
Abernathy, 53, said his dealings with Applied Pharmacy have been aboveboard at all times. “We’ve used many pharmacies,” he said. “Applied was one of the front-runners in HIV treatment. They had an outstanding reputation.” […]
Abernathy said he would never recommend steroids to improve athletic performance or to serve as some sort of fountain of youth. “In fact, we turn away many patients who are looking for vanity medicine,” he said.
Drs. Kenneth M. Olds and Kelly W. Tucker of Greeley, Colo., agreed to plead guilty in Mobile to dispensing anabolic steroids outside the course of professional practice. Greeley is also home to another who in January pleaded guiltyto withholding information about illegal steroids prescriptions.
Dr. Pamela Pyle, a Myrtle Beach, S.C., osteopath, also admitted to the withholding offense, known as misprision of a felony.
The indictments were expected after Assistant U.S. Attorney Donna Dobbins requested a postponement in the sentencing of their APS co-conspirator Scott Corliss last week. Olds and Tucker had previously been named in court documents as co-conspirators in the APS steroid scandal. We have not previously seen a link to Dr. Pamela Pyle.
MESO-Rx expects all four doctors who have pleaded guilty in the steroid conspiracy will cooperate with federal prosecutors in their pursuit of Applied Pharmacy Services Inc. and their owners Samuel Kelley and Jason Kelley.
Prosecutors allege that Applied Pharmacy Services was party to a conspiracy involving the distribution of anabolic steroids to individuals without a legitimate medical need.
“Working in concert for their mutual profit, these doctors, pharmacy owners, pharmacists and sales representatives removed the word controlled from ‘controlled substances,’” U.S. Attorney Deborah Rhodes said in a written statement. “They made sure that anabolic steroids were readily available to any person willing to pay for them, regardless of any legitimate medical need.”
Practices that have troubled prosecutors include the distribution of trenbolone acetate which has no accepted medical application in humans and the dispensing of steroids to patients as young as 19 years old.
Applied Pharmacy no longer offers pharmaceutical quality anabolic steroid and hormone preparations; they have stopped production of all anabolic steroids as a result of DEA pressure and the ongoing federal steroid investigation.
Former NFL running back Femi Ayanbadejo has filed a lawsuit against Author L. Rea of ALR Industries. He claims an undisclosed ingredient in ALRI Max LMG caused him to fail an NFL doping test leading to his release by the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears. Ayanbadejo tested positive for a “form of nandrolone.” Ayanbadejo’s attorney is blaming the positive steroid test on the manufacturer for possibly intentionally “spiking” the supplement with banned substances or contamination from the manufacturing facility (”Ex-Aztec sues supplement maker, shop over failed NFL steroid test,” March 11).
“We’re still not sure whether we have a pure cross-contamination matter (from the mixing facility), or we have a company that actually spiked the supplement (intentionally),” said Ayanbadejo’s attorney, Jim Miller.
However, he ignores a third possibility that doesn’t work in his client’s favor - that the ingredient that caused the positive drug test was plainly listed on the label and his client was unaware that the metabolites would result in a positive steroid test. Then this is no longer a case of “undisclosed ingredients” or “contaminated supplements.”
The marketing materials for ALRI Max LMG clearly list the ingredients and similarity to other progestin-based steroids like trenbolone and nandrolone.
The active compound in Max LMG is 13-ethyl-3-methoxy-gona-2,5(10)-diene-17-one… It is legal because it is a progestin, and before anyone thinks “birth-control”, remember that trenbolone, nandrolone, methyltrienolone and Methyl-Dien all are also progestins. I doubt anyone will disagree with the effects of these compounds upon favorable body composition.
In addition, the label warned consumers about androgenic side effects.
Possible side effects include acne, hair loss, hair growth on the face (in women), aggressiveness, irritability, and increased levels of estrogen.
Are supplement companies responsible for ensuring that their supplements are “IOC-friendly”? Or are supplement companies only responsible for complying with legal requirements of DSHEA (which permit certain progestin-based steroidal compounds)?
Hidetada Yamagishi’s defense attorney provided court documents to Flex Online including details of steroid-related charges against him. The court documents provide details of the anabolic steroid stack imported by IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Hidetada Yamagishi when he was arrested on his arrival in the United States to compete in the 2008 IFBB Iron Man Pro and 2008 IFBB Arnold Classic as well as other pro bodybuilding shows:
Flex Online spoke with the attorney for Hidetada Yamagishi and confirmed the steroid-related charges against Hide that we first learned over three weeks ago from Muscletime. Allan Donnelly writes:
Yamagishi is charged with six felonies and three misdemeanors.
The felonies are: unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance, trenbolone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance, testosterone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale a controlled substance chorionic gonadotropin; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale of a controlled substance mesterolone; unlawful possess for sale and purchase for sale of a controlled substance, oxandrolone; unlawful transport, import into the state of California, sell, furnish, administer and give away and offer to transport, import into the State of California, sell furnish, administer and give away, and attempt to import into the State of California and transport a controlled substance trenbolone, chorionic gonadotropin, testosterone, mesterolone, oxandrolone and stanozolol.
Shawn Chapman Holley, Hide’s defense attorney, confirmed that the amount and quantity of anabolic steroids and ancillary drugs found in Hidetada’s luggage at LAX was consistent with personal use for a competitive bodybuilder.
It’s clear that the quantity of steroids at issue is consistent with personal use and far less than one would expect to see in a case of sales. Moreover the quantity is consistent with what one would expect to see for a bodybuilder with the competition schedule Hide had posted on his Website before his arrest.
The State of California is apparently abusing misusing the law by attempting to prosecute Hidetada Yamagishi as a distributor of anabolic steroids; Hidetada clearly had no intent to sell steroids only to compete in professional bodybuilding competitions.
California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, knows a thing or two about the quantity and type of anabolic steroids and ancillary drugs included in precontest bodybuilding steroid stacks. He could easily confirm that the steroid stack imported by Hide was consistent with personal use by a professional bodybuilder. Someone should appeal directly to Arnold Schwarzenegger and ask that he explain this to California prosecutors.
There is a good chance that Hide’s defense attorney will be able to do the same and reach a plea agreement to misdemeanor charges on behalf of Hidetada Yamagishi.
I am hopeful that on February 6th we will have worked out a deal where, hopefully he will plead guilty to a misdemeanor count and be placed on summary probation with credit for time served and that will be the end of the criminal case.
Nonetheless, it is terrible that Hide will have spent no less than 8 weeks incarcerated on trumped up charges.
