Bleacher Report - Articles by Millard Baker

Bodybuilder Victor Martinez Unfairly Targeted by Steroid Witch Hunt Again

Millard Baker — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:53:15 -0500

IFBB pro bodybuilder Victor Martinez was unfairly subjected to a “witch hunt” by an inaccurate article appearing in the New York Daily News.

Sportswriter Christian Red inaccurately reported that Victor Martinez owned the Gurabo Supplement Store in the Dominican Republic when, in fact, Martinez does not have any ownership interest nor does he receive any monetary benefits from the supplement store. Daniel Ferreira, an attorney for Martinez, formally requested a correction in a letter to Christian Red of the Daily News to set the record straight.

Mr. Martinez’s posters are displayed in the store. The posters are for the supplements line Mr. Martinez endorses in the United States. By way of background, Mr. Martinez was invited as a guest poser to an event conducted by the Dominican Bodybuilders’ Federation. The Gurabo store, a sponsor of the event, requested that Mr. Martinez’s appear at the store and promote his supplements line.

Your article somehow bestowed an ownership interest on to Mr. Martinez from the display of his posters of a supplements line from the United States in the Gurabo store. Your story lacks any credible evidence; I am very confident that you were not shown any documentation that supports your blanket assertion that Mr. Martinez is the owner of the Gurabo store.

The “irresponsible reporting” represents the most recent type of witch hunt to target Victor Martinez. In 2007, Martinez was unfairly targeted in another type of steroid witch hunt led by the grandstanding District Attorney David Soares of Albany County.

Soares publicly identified Martinez as an “un-indicted co-conspirator” in the Signature Pharmacy steroid scandal; Victor was never charged with a crime after almost two years. The practice of naming unindicted co-conspirators is frowned upon by many in the legal community and unethical, if not unconstitutional. Attorney Daniel Ferreira decries the behavior of David Soares as part of a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct.

Your irresponsible reporting is the equivalent of the “witch hunt” conducted by the Albany County District Attorney, David Soares in the Signature Pharmacy case. Mr. Soares proudly claimed that Mr. Martinez was an “un-indicted co-conspirator” violating Mr. Martinez’s constitutional rights.

Mr. Soares was widely criticized for his handling of that case and the harm he caused by his prosecutorial misconduct. As widely reported, the charges were dismissed in that case and Mr. Martinez was never charged. To date, Mr. Martinez has not received an apology from the Albany District Attorney’s Office. Your inaccurate article is another witch-hunt.

David Soares’ office has not only failed to apologize to Victor Martinez, but continues to publicly list Martinez’s name and photograph on their website in a diagram of Operation Which Doctor thereby depriving Victor Martinez of his due process rights under the Constitution.

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Bodybuilder Victor Martinez Unfairly Targeted by Steroid Witch-Hunt Again

Media Steroid Frenzy Seeks Alex Rodriguez Steroid Connections

Millard Baker — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:25:06 -0500

The aftermath of Alex Rodriguez’ steroid confessional press conference has been marked by an aggressive media feeding frenzy in a race to uncover incriminating steroid connections.

It is safe characterize journalists as obsessed with Alex Rodriguez's admitted steroid use. White House correspondents covering President Barack Obama’s first prime-time presidential press conference were eager to learn President Obama thoughts on A-Rod’s steroid use.

The New York Daily News sent a reporter to the Dominican Republic to purchase the same steroids as Alex Rodriguez; curiously, he failed, unable to obtain Primobolan, but that didn’t stop the story. But that was only the beginning of the insidious Alex Rodriguez witch-hunt.

The press identified the name of Alex Rodriguez cousin who allegedly smuggled the steroids into the United States for A-Rod and injected him bi-weekly for several years.

ESPN was knocking on the door of Yuri Sucart’s residence in Miami and talking to his wife on the phone within several hours of A-Rod’s press conference (”A-Rod’s cousin lives in Miami,” Feb. 19).

When an ESPN Deportes producer knocked on the Sucarts’ door in Miami, no one answered. The producer then called the Sucarts’ house on the telephone and reached a woman who later identified herself as Yuri Sucart’s wife.

When the producer asked if Rodriguez had referred to her husband at Tuesday’s news conference, she said yes. [...]

“Yuri was a mule, not a guy who would initiate anything,” a friend once close to Rodriguez said Wednesday. “He did what Alex told him to. He was only looking out for Alex. He is not a guy who would take the initiative to go out and buy drugs.

Alex said during the press conference that his cousin just did what was asked—that is perfect for Yuri’s M.O. He is a person who would be with him forever, a loyal guy without a bad bone in his body.”

Sports journalists next identified the name of a steroid-linked personal trainer, never mind the oxymoron, who had been a long-time friend of Alex Rodriguez and regularly accompanied him during the MLB season as recently as 2007.

Presinal has been banned from MLB “private areas,” and Rodriguez had been warned that Presinal was an “unsavory character” (”A-Rod’s pal, the tainted trainer: Steroid-linked friend is banned by every MLB team,” Feb. 20).

Another source said Presinal accompanied A-Rod for the entire 2007 season, staying in the same hotel as the A.L. MVP, but in a separate room with the “cousin” Rodriguez pegged three days ago as his steroid source from 2001-03. [...]

“He was around Alex in 2007,” the source said of Presinal. “Every hotel they went to, he stayed in the same room with Yuri. You would never see Alex with [Presinal]. They would meet in one of their rooms.”

Presinal was identified in the Mitchell Report and ostracized by Major League Baseball after being caught with a bag full of steroids allegedly belonging to MLB player Juan Gonzales in 2001.

The Mitchell Report, released in December 2007, described the investigation that followed the 2001 incident at a Toronto airport, first reported by the Daily News in 2006, where Presinal told law enforcement the bag containing drugs belonged to then-Indians star Juan Gonzalez. [...]

In addition to A-Rod, Presinal has worked with some of the game’s biggest stars: Juan Gonzalez, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero, Bartolo Colon, Miguel Tejada, Adrian Beltre, Moises Alou, Jose Guillen, Ervin Santana, Ruben Sierra, Francisco Cordero, Jose Mesa, and Juan Guzman, among others.

Sports writers have even been able to link George Steinbrenner, the billionaire owner of the New York Yankees where A-Rod plays, to steroid distribution, albeit indirectly via several degrees of separation.

Apparently, Steinbrenner’s daughter married Felix M. Lopez Jr. who became a senior vice president with the Yankees in 2005. The son of the Yankees VP was arrested on steroid trafficking charges in 2002 and was ultimately sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to steroid possession charges as part of DEA Operation Webslinger.

The press apparently doesn’t care that all of this happened well before Steinbrenner’s daughter married Felix Lopez Jr. (”Son of Yankees VP trafficked steroids in 2002,” February 20).

According to the arrest record filed with the Tampa police department, police obtained several bottles and more than 50 viles of unspecified liquid steroids as well as two boxes with six bottles of the drug GBL when they raided Lopez’s Tampa apartment on Sept. 18, 2002. GBL is commonly referred to as an illegal date-rape drug but also has been used by athletes as a steroid alternative. [...]

Charles Massucci, a Tampa detective who arrested Lopez III as part of a federal crackdown on date-rape drugs, said in a telephone interview Friday that Lopez III was “a big kid” who offered no resistance and “was very compliant.”

Massucci said although the investigation was aimed at date-rape drugs, he was not surprised to also discover that Lopez III possessed steroids.

It has only been 72 hours since Alex Rodriguez steroid circus of a press conference under the big tent outside of Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

It is only a matter of time before a press “on steroids” finds additional steroid connections, no matter how tangential.

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Media Steroid Frenzy Seeks Alex Rodriguez Steroid Connections

Alex Rodriguez Steroid Use Should Be Applauded Not Demonized

Millard Baker — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:37:30 -0500

Anabolic steroids generally improve the level of athletic performance. Improved performance is, by most accounts, good for sport. MLB umpire Tim McClelland recently questioned how one could fault an athlete for doing something that makes him a better player. Sidney Gendin, professor of philosophy of law at Eastern Michigan University, has even suggested that we should only ban those athletes who refuse to use steroids.

Janean Marti argues in an editorial that professional athletes have an obligation to their fans to use steroids to improve their performance. After all, how else can an athlete like Alex Rodriguez plausibly begin to justify his $275 million baseball contract to his employers and/or to his fans? Furthermore, Marti highlights the utter hypocrisy of society’s condemnation of the unacceptable dangers of steroids and criticism of the wrong message it sends to young people (”A-Rod Owes Us More Steroids,” February 17).

If athletes like Alex Rodriguez want to use performance enhancing drugs to hit more home runs and validate the unearthly amount of dollars major league baseball owners heap on him, we, as fans, should welcome that.

Should society worry about the long-term affects steroids have on A-Rod’s body? Hell, we don’t even worry about U.S. soldiers in Iraq who must rumble the killing fields with inadequate armor and protection.

Do we care about how Black Lung Disease affects the coal-miners who provide some of the electricity you are using to read this? Are there many news articles complaining about that every day?

Oh, A-Rod using steroids will send our youth the wrong message. But sending young men to kill or be killed in Iraq for $50,000 a year while A-Rod earns $27.5 million that same year doesn’t?

Society has completely lost perspective with its hysteria over steroids in sports. To many people, the use of steroids represents one of the worst moral failures an athlete could commit. When videographic evidence of Michael Phelps smoking marijuana surfaced, everyone was relieved that at least it wasn’t steroids. Public perceptions of marijuana have gradually changed over time, but the present-day steroid hysteria makes reefer madness seem innocuous.

Steroids are so demonized that their use to improve athletic performance is considered worse than endangering the lives of other individuals (and children) while driving under the influence of alcohol or reckless driving and speeding. NBA Phoenix Suns basketball star Jason Richardson was arrested for child endangerment, reckless driving, excessive speed, and failure to use a car seat while driving his 2008 Mercedes Benz 90-mph in a 35-mph speed zone – just 55-mph over the posted speed limit - with his 3-year old son unrestrained in the backseat of the vehicle.

He was suspended for ONE game and lost $111,111 in salary. But at least he wasn’t using steroids. IF he were arrested for a steroid-related crime, he would have been suspended for at least 10-games and $1.2 million but, according the NBA anti-drug policy, could have been kicked out of the NBA forfeiting his entire $12.2 million annual salary.

Society’s priorities are clearly awry.

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Alex Rodriguez Steroid Use Should Be Applauded Not Demonized

MLB Umpire Tim McClelland Says Steroid Use to Improve Performance Is Acceptable

Millard Baker — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:19:27 -0500

Timothy McClelland, one of Major League Baseball’s most respected and senior umpires, defended baseball players who have used anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs at a university fundraiser last night. McClelland was the headline guest speaker at the sixth annual Iowa Baseball Lead-Off Dinner hosted by the University of Iowa baseball team.

McClelland’s comments on steroids in baseball came on the same day as Alex Rodriguez’s steroid confessional at a press conference in Tampa.

Tim McClelland has worked as an umpire in Major League Baseball for over 25 years. He has been around long enough to witness the beginning of the so-called steroid era in baseball.

He acknowledged that rampant steroid use was obvious in the MLB for a period of at least 15 years and hopes that fans—and probably also sportswriters and grandstanding politicians—move past the hysteria that has overtaken baseball. After all, how can you fault an athlete for seeking to improve himself as a player and maximize his performance (”McClelland: Steroids part of era,” Feb. 18)?

“They used it to make themselves better,” McClelland said. “I can’t fault a player for doing that. It was not against the rules of baseball, so I can’t fault a player for trying to make himself better.”

Tim McClelland has established a strong reputation as being fair and consistent. The major league crew chief is always among the top-rated umpires in the league among players and managers.

“I’d like to see people kind of get over it,” McClelland said. “It was part of that era. In 2004, baseball instituted the ban on steroids. The previous 15 years, you just have to realize there were a lot of people taking steroids.”

Anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs have not ruined Tim McClelland’s passion for the game of baseball.

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Senior MLB Umpire Thinks Steroid Use to Improve Player Performance is Acceptable

WWE John Cena Thinks Steroid Users Should Go to Jail

Millard Baker — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:24:17 -0500

John Cena was sickened by MLB player Alex Rodriguez’ admission that he used anabolic steroids according to a recent interview.

The actor and rapper is employed by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) which has experienced its share of steroid-related controversy including a recent Congressional investigation into steroid use in professional wrestling and the apparent widespread use of steroids in pro wrestling.

Nonetheless, John Cena believes that steroid users should go to jail (”Cena works hard on his rags to riches story,” February 16).

What happened with Alex Rodriguez and the steroids revelations sickened him. He thinks if everyone really wants to get serious about cleaning up the game, “they should send the guys to jail.”

Cena is about as cut as they come, but he said he’s not steroid enhanced.

“I’m not only a guy who will say I’m clean, but I’ll beat my chest to the world that I’m clean,” he said. “I have very, very strong opinions on that.”

John Cena’s belief that individual steroid use should be criminalize is somewhat surprising since Cena appeared to share director Chris Bell’s disdain for the hypocrisy of steroid laws.

Cena asked Bell about anabolic steroids when compared and contrasted with legal, acceptable drugs that are more addictive and harmful than steroids.

Chris Bell, the director of the steroid documentary ‘Bigger Stronger Faster*’, offered an excellent response criticizing the demonization of steroids suggesting that society has “deemed steroids immoral simply because they are illegal.”

But any assumption that John Cena was on the same page as Chris Bell was clearly erroneous. Most people who have worked at Gold’s Gym Venice and have had the chance to interact with steroid users on a regular basis tend to be more critical of steroid laws that put otherwise law-abiding citizens in jail. But not John Cena.

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WWE John Cena Thinks Steroid Users Should Go to Jail

CFL: Summer Camp for Violators of NFL Steroid Policy

Millard Baker — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:01:56 -0500

The Canadian Football League (CFL) is the only professional sporting league in North America that has not yet implemented steroid testing for its football players. Former WADA chief Dick Pound had previously called the CFL a “summer camp” for NFL players suspended for violations of the NFL policy on anabolic steroids and related substances (”WADA chief Pounds on CFL,” October 19, 2006).

“We’ve got the CFL,” Pound said. “It’s like a bad scene from the NHL. They say, ‘We don’t test in the Canadian Football League because we don’t need to test — there’s no drug use.’ Helloooo. We’re like a refuge for all the Americans… a summer camp for NFL players who have been suspended for drug use.”

This weekend, John Fahey, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), publicly urged the CFL to adopt an anti-doping testing program. Fahey was in Montreal for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Executive Committee and Foundation Board meeting. Fahey made his comments just prior to the 2008 CFL Grey Cup Final between the Calgary Stampeders and the Montreal Alouettes (”WADA chief challenges CFL to join fight against drugs,” November 23).

“To be here in Montreal on the weekend of the Grey Cup final and to find there is no doping code is very disappointing,” Fahey told Reuters following a WADA board meeting. “I understand there have been discussions and I hope they eventually lead to fruition.

”There has been dialogue between WADA and the CFL over a period of time but that doesn’t suggest that there is anything imminent.

”I can only say I think they are draw attention to the game in an adverse way by not having a (doping) code.

”I don’t see how any sport cannot have an effective anti-doping program.”

The WADA chief’s criticisms of Canadian Football League’s lack of an effective steroid testing program were undermined by WADA board member and British IOC member Sir Craig Reedie who was also in Montreal for the WADA Foundation board meeting.

Sir Reedie hihglighted the failure to implement an effective anti-doping program at WADA due to the noncompliance of over half of the signatories to the WADA code at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (”Drug Rules ‘Not Enforced’,” November 23).

Rules that bind athletes to give details of their daily movements to drugs testers are not being enforced in “half the countries in the world”, it was claimed on Thursday [...]

Sir Craig Reedie, British IOC member and a board member of the WADA, said “half the world” was not operating the system properly - WADA regulations state that athletes must provide testers with their whereabouts for an hour each day.

Reedie said: “The one issue the world of sport will want clearing up is in relation to whereabouts regulations for athletes.

“What has come out of Beijing is that half the world operates the system properly and half the world does not.

“This has come out of a survey done of national Olympic committees, and some are struggling with the whereabouts rules.

“We have to get the system to work properly so that everyone is operating in the same way.”

The major failure to implement the WADA code by the majority of its signatories compounds the major failure of WADA procedures and protocols to effectively catch dopers.

WADA has not developed an anti-doping protocol that effectively closes the testosterone loophole, that has ever detected human growth hormone in athletes, or has thwarted the use of numerous banned blood boosting techniques and drugs.

The sad truth is that WADA’s steroid testing program, far from Fahey’s “effective anti-doping program,” is only marginally more effective than the CFL’s drug testing program i.e. no testing at all.

Don Catlin Believes NFL Bumetanide Positives Result of Tainted Supplements

Millard Baker — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:28:28 -0400

Anti-doping expert Don Catlin believes the numerous NFL players who tested positive for the diuretic butemanide may have unknowingly used dietary supplements tainted with the drug. (”Alleged use of old-school drug surprises experts,” Oct. 29).

“I’d love to know,” said Don Catlin, a renowned expert who ran America’s first anti-doping lab. “But that’s why the first thing I thought was, ‘They take supplements all the time. Every athlete does. Maybe it’s a bad batch of supplements.’”

We reported previously of Catlin’s bewilderment at the intentional use of butemanide by NFL players as a masking agent for anabolic steroids. There were several plausible indicators that a contaminated supplement could have been the culprit. Experts are indeed baffled by the presence of an old and dangerous drug in anti-doping samples.

After our report this weekend, more evidence points to dietary supplements contaminated with butemanide, specifically the StarCaps by Balanced Health Products that we cited, which were found to contain near therapeutic levels of bumetanide in case reports published several months ago.

NFL New Orleans Saints players Deuce McAllister, Will Smith, and Charles Grant are attributing their positive doping results to the use of StarCaps.

New Orleans Saints Guard Jamar Nesbit is suing the manufacturer of StarCaps (Balanced Health Products) for $235,294 lost wages during his four-week suspension for testing positive for bumetanide. He apparently still has a bottle of StarCaps, which, when tested, were found to contain bumetanide as an undisclosed ingredient.

Balanced Health Products has recently suspended all shipments of StarCaps as a result of the attention from the NFL bumetanide scandal.

“We don’t know for sure what the situation is,” said Marc Ullman, a lawyer for Balanced Health Products, the company the markets StarCaps. “If there is in fact any adulteration, we don’t know if it’s an issue with the raw materials or if it’s something to do with the manufacturing of the product.”

I guess the big question is why StarCaps did not suspend shipments and reforumlate their product LAST YEAR when the Journal of Analytical Toxicology discovered therapeutic levels of bumetanide in StarCaps.

Several experts are suggesting that the spiking of StarCaps with bumetanide was intentional.

Lori Bestervelt, the senior vice president of NSF, said there is virtually no chance a supplement could be accidentally tainted with Bumetanide.

“It could happen, but then again we could all be struck by lightning three times, too,” Bestervelt said. “But we do test for it. We’ve never had any supplement come up positive.”

So, it appears to be a case of systematic spiking of a supplement with undisclosed ingredient(s) by a supplement manufacturer OR systematic use of a drug to mask anabolic steroids by football players.

I guess it is possible that Deuce McAllister was sitting around in the offseason reading the Journal of Analytic Toxicology and figured out he could use bumetanide to mask steroid use and if he got caught, he could just blame StarCaps?

I tend to think the (un)intentionally contaminated-supplement theory is more likely.

But then again, why in the world would professional athletes be caught using Nikki Haskell’s StarCaps?

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Don Catlin Believes NFL Bumetanide Positives Result of Tainted Supplements

Swimmer Jessica Hardy's Competitors Are Permitted to Use Similar Asthma Drugs

Millard Baker — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:57:38 -0400

U.S. Olympic swimmer Jessica Hardy tested positive for the asthma medication Clenbuterol in both A and B samples at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., on July 1 and 4, 2008.

Clenbuterol is a bronchodilator belonging to a class of drugs known as beta-2 adrenergic agonists or long-acting beta-2 adrenergic agonist (LABA) . Clenbuterol is similar to Albuterol and Salmeterol which are also LABAs.

It is well-known that a high percentage of elite swimmers have exercise-induced asthma. It is also known that most asthmatic swimmers competing in the Olympics have therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) to use beta-2 agonists like albuterol, formoterol, salbutamol, salmeterol and terbutaline for therapeutic purposes.

The amazing swimmer Dara Torres makes no secret of her use of albuterol and formoterol; these are two different beta-2 agonists (LABAs). She probably tests positive for these substances on a regular basis too since United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) tests her frequently due to her participation in Project Believe.

Dara Torres has a therapeutic use exemption. She is permitted to take the banned performance-enhancing drugs Albuterol and Symbicort for “therapeutic” purposes as long as it does not exceed the arbitrarily defined threshold of 1,000 nanograms per milliliter.

The 2008 WADA Prohibited List has provisions for athletes to use specific banned performance enhancing drugs as long as they are granted a therapeutic use exemption (TUE). Athletes can use the following banned asthma drugs if they have a TUE and the banned substances never exceed the defined threshold during testing: albuterol, formoterol, salbutamol, salmeterol and terbutaline.

So why is Jessica Hardy’s positive test for a similar asthma medication such a problem?

Hardy is known to have asthma. We are guessing that she has a therapeutic use exemption. And it is has been reported that the levels of clenbuterol detected in her positive samples were very low, certainly at levels consistent with therapeutic use.

Apparently, two asthma medications in the beta-2 agonists (LABAs) category have been prohibited even for therapeutic purposes. These asthma medications are clenbuterol and zilpaterol; they are classified as “anabolic agents” and detection will result in an adverse analytical finding (AAF) or failed test.

Some examples of LABAs approved by WADA for therapeutic purposes include Advair Diskus, Advair HFA, Brovana, Foradil, Perforomist, Proventil, Serevent Diskus, Symbicort, and Ventolin.

Interestingly, the effects of these “approved” drugs are very similar to clenbuterol. Clenbuterol was classified as an anabolic agent based on dosages used in livestock and NOT therapeutic dosages used in humans.

We expect that Albuterol and other approved LABAs would exhibit practically identical anabolic effects if they were administered at similar dosages in livestock.

By the way, the dosages of LABAs shown to be anabolic in livestock would be fatal in humans as it is several hundred times the therapeutic human dosage.

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Swimmer Jessica Hardy Competitors are Permitted to Use Similar Asthma Drugs

Victor Conte's Secret: How To Take Candy from a Baby

Millard Baker — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:06:29 -0400

John Scott, the Director of Drug Free Sports at UK Sport, welcomed cooperation from sprinter Dwain Chambers and Victor Conte in sharing details of a sophisticated BALCO performance enhancing drug stack (”Statement regarding Dwain Chambers meeting,” May 16).

Through the letter which Dwain handed to us, he has provided a detailed account of his doping programme, which highlights the level of sophistication that goes these systematic regimes. It is through this sort of information that we are able to better understand both the mindset of why athletes choose that path and the network that sits behind them. It is these networks of manufacture, trafficking and supply that we need to be able to tap into if we are to get to the heart of doping in sport.

Victor Conte (in a letter to sprinter Dwain Chambers) explained how easy it is for athletes to thwart anti-doping drug testers, even without designer steroids, using short-acting steroids and performance-enhancing drugs. It is called the “duck and dodge” technique (”Conte’s prescription for success,” May 16).

First, the athlete repeatedly calls their own cell phone until the message capacity is full. This way the athlete can claim to the testers that they didn’t get a message when they finally decide to make themselves available. Secondly, they provide incorrect information on their whereabouts form. They say they are going to one place and then go to another. Thereafter, they start using testosterone, growth hormone and other drugs for a short cycle of two to three weeks.

After the athlete discontinues using the drugs for a few days and they know that they will test clean, they become available and resume training at their regular facility.

Most athletes are tested approximately two times each year on a random out-of-competition basis. If a tester shows up and the athlete is not where they are supposed to be, then the athlete will receive a “missed test”. This is the equivalent to receiving “strike one” when up to bat in a baseball game.

The current anti-doping rules allow an athlete to have two missed tests in any given 18-month period without a penalty or consequence. So, the disadvantage for an athlete having a missed test is that they have one strike against them. The advantage of that missed test is the athlete has now received the benefit of a cycle of steroids. Long story short, an athlete can continue to duck and dodge until they have two missed tests, which basically means that they can continue to use drugs until that time.

It is unclear what action UK Sport (or WADA for that matter) will take to foil “duck and dodge” techniques that make beating anti-dopers “like taking candy from a baby.”

DEA Identifies 22 Dietary Supplements Containing Anabolic Steroids

Millard Baker — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:22:19 -0400

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) identified 22 dietary supplements containing anabolic steroids that are marketed and sold on the Internet, in proposed rules published last week in the Federal Register.

According to the DEA, the following three steroids meet the criteria for “anabolic steroids” under the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 (”Classification of Three Steroids as Schedule III Anabolic Steroids Under the Controlled Substances Act,” April 25).

Boldione (a.k.a. androsta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione)
Desoxymethyltestosterone (a.k.a. DMT and 17a-methyl-5a-androst-2-en-17b-ol)
19-nor-4,9(10)-androstadienedione (a.k.a.19-norandrosta-4,9(10)-diene-3,17-dione and esta-4,9(10)-diene-3,17-dione)

Apparently, this is a shocking surprise to supplement-industry lobbyist Loren Israelsen. Israelsen recently forwarded the following remarks (written by Rob Eder) to members of the United Natural Products Alliance.

“As I have previously suggested, perhaps the Congress should examine whether the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act–DSHEA, as it is commonly known–is being adequately enforced,” Fehr said […]

I have got some news for Donald Fehr: They don’t sell steroids in the supplement aisle. They don’t sell the “cream” or the “clear,” either. That’s because this industry does a better job of policing itself than Major League Baseball ever could.

It’s a sad and unfortunate day for the supplement industry when Major League Baseball has more credibility than supplement-industry leaders. The DEA has news for Loren Israelsen—YES, they do sell steroids in the supplement aisle, and the supplement industry is no better at self-regulating than MLB; at least the MLB finally acknowledged they have a steroid problem.

Obviously, this is bad news for the future of the supplement industry. Deserusan of Gaspari does a good job at summarizing the risks to the future of the industry (”The DEA Has Their Eye on Online Supplement Retailers,” April 30).

It’s no myth that physique enhancement often points one down paths which lead them to “illegal” compounds, after unsuccessful trials with legal OTC supplements. However, there are numerous “grey-area” supplements which are in clear violation of FDA policies that are still sold as legal supplements. My issue with these grey-market compounds is that they indeed put the full spectrum of OTC supplements at risk of being banned.

We all know the FDA has been a sleeping monster for quite a few years when it comes to this, but now the supplement industry has caught the eye of the DEA.

Deserusan appeals to the industry to take “proactive” steps in light of the news.

I guess the question is, since the DEA is now looking into these compounds, what proactive steps will supplement distributors take in order to see that the DEA doesn’t crack down on more “grey area” or even perfectly legal OTC supplements? […]

My message to them is, don’t get greedy on a few flagged steroids which puts everything else OTC on the market in harms way as well. Uncle Sam is not ****ing around anymore when it comes to steroids, and that cat is out of the bag regarding these three compounds.

But sadly, I don’t think supplement retailers will heed Deserusan’s warning. When the FDA raided LG Sciences and seized over one million dollars in dietary supplements containing 1,4,6 etiocholan-dione (ATD) and 4-etioallocholen-3,6,17-trione (6-OXO-4-androstenedione), I don’t think a single supplement retailer stopped selling products containing these ingredients. Even when the owner of a supplement company brutally murdered his girlfriend with a baseball bat, I couldn’t find a single, supplement retailer who had a problem continuing to sell his dietary supplements.

I am afraid that retailers don’t recognize the significant of the Dietary Health and Supplement Education Act (DSHEA), and will take it for granted until it is too late.

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DEA Identifies 22 Dietary Supplements Containing Anabolic Steroids