Major League Baseball has allowed some baseball players to use anabolic steroids as “androgen deficiency medication” treatment according to testimony at the congressional hearing entitled “The Mitchell Report: The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball.” In 2006, three players were permitted to use “androgen deficiency medications” under the therapeutic use exemption. In 2007, only two players were permitted to use anabolic steroids to treat this condition. Therapeutic use exemptions for amphetamines and related “ADD/ADHD medications” jumped from 28 in 2006 to 103 in 2007.
Therapeutic Use Exemptions for Anabolic Steroids in Baseball
January 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Efran Marrero, Steroid Withdrawal, Depression and Suicide
January 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The parents of Efran Marrero, a high school baseball player who committed suicide after the use of anabolic steroids, provided testimony at the congressional hearing entitled “The Mitchell Report: The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball.”
Three and half weeks after he quit using steroids “cold turkey” my son took his own life – a victim of the deep depression that accompanies withdrawal from these drugs.
This type of emotional testimony really has a strong effect on me as I’m sure it does on many others. Unfortunately, such emotional testimony is useless when it comes to scientifically, logically and rationally informed public policy. [Read more...]
Therapeutic Use Exemptions for Amphetamines in Major League Baseball
January 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The congressional hearing entitled “The Mitchell Report: The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball” is underway right now. I have previously discussed the loophole offered by therapeutic use exemptions that allow professional athletes to use performance enhancing drugs, including steroids, growth hormone and/or testosterone. The number of therapeutic use exemptions or TUEs were not revealed in the Mitchell Report.
Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) revealed that Major League Baseball has granted over 100 therapeutic use exemptions to athletes for amphetamines and related stimulant drugs to treat ADHD. Of course, since the focus of the Mitchell report and the Congressional hearings are on the evils of steroids, the continuing problem of amphetamines in baseball will likely not be seriously investigated at this point.
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1685
Misconception that Anabolic Steroids "Enhance Looks, Strength and Speed"
January 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I regularly read the coverage of the Signature Pharmacy steroid distribution investigation by journalist Brendan Lyons of the Albany Times Union. This is primarily because he seems to have the best access to information related to the investigation since it is an Albany-based investigation initiated by District Attorney David Soares. However, articles are not very well-balanced and regularly include baffling statements such as this (emphasis added):
While Congress is preparing to focus on baseball players alleged to have taken the drugs, medical experts are warning that steroids and human growth hormone are being illegally prescribed nationwide at an alarming rate under the misconception they will aid healing, enhance looks, strength and speed, or slow aging. [Read more...]
Abscess from Anabolic Steroid Injections or B12?
January 13, 2008 By Leave a Comment
ESPN reports that trainer Brian McNamee claims Roger Clemens developed an abscess in his buttock resulting from injections of anabolic steroids in 1998. No medical records have surfaced to corroborate this claim. Of course, if Roger Clemens claims that he regularly received intramuscular injections of B-12, then this could have been equally responsible for the alleged abscess. However, Clemens’ attorney has denied that Roger Clemens’ had an abscess.
But ESPN found an “anti-doping expert” who claims that anabolic steroid injections represent a special type of intramuscular injection that is more likely to cause abscesses. According to Gary Wadler of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). [Read more...]
Roger Clemens and Lidocaine
January 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I am shocked at the misinformation regarding lidocaine that has circulated the media news sites and blogosphere as it relates to major league baseball player Roger Clemens. The addition of lidocaine to a B-12 injection didn’t seem unusual to me or even in need of an explanation. I didn’t think I need bother to comment upon it; surely, someone would explain it.
ESPN interviewed two “experts” – Dr. Ken Dretchen, pharmacology department chair at Georgetown University and Dr. John F. Dombrowski, director of pain medicine at the Washington Pain Center. They were clueless. Amazing. But I definitely won’t hold it against them. They are most certainly experts in their respective fields, just not experts on doping. [Read more...]
Roger Clemens Will Be Crucified in the Media
January 6, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The Roger Clemens interview with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes will turn out to be a disaster for Clemens. Attorney Rusty Hardin should be fired for advising him and speaking out for him in the press.
Hardin told the press recently that Clemens received multiple injections throughout his career. He even compared the use of, shall we say performance-enhancing injections, to those of a high-performance racehorse. Great analogy (sarcasm) – compare a suspected doper to another sport that has historically been plagued by doping.
Therapeutic Use Exemptions for Performance Enhancing Drugs
December 17, 2007 By Leave a Comment
I’ve previously discussed known loopholes for testosterone use in drug testing programs. And of course, the fact that growth hormone use is undetectable via drug testing urinalysis makes it an easy and attractive drug for the athlete seeking performance enhancement.
Just as problematic is the loophole of “therapeutic use exemptions” (TUE) for performance-enhancing drugs on the banned substance list. In many cases, an athlete can use performance enhancing drugs (even steroids) with impugnity if they are granted a TUE for a medically documented condition.
The therapeutic use loophole is not widely publicized by WADA and other drug testing organizations because it does not contribute to the appearance of an effective drug testing program and a “clean sport.” [Read more...]
Recommendations for Steroid Education in Baseball
December 14, 2007 By Leave a Comment
The Mitchell Report noted problems with current steroid education programs in MLB that focus on severe steroid dangers and deleterious side effects:
[T]hese health risks… generally will not deter a player from using these substances. This is because players who use or are considering using performance enhancing substances do not consider them dangerous if used properly. This view is reinforced when players see that other players who they know are using performance enhancing substances arc not experiencing the adverse health effects described in the educational materials.
This makes sense. If steroid use is rampant and the clubhouse, yet no one is experiencing any of the negative side effects, then why would players give any credence to the MLB “steroid education” programs? Perhaps overstating and exaggerating the side effects and related scare tactics are not effective in a drug education program? [Read more...]
Athletes Using Steroids and Amphetamines for Legitimate Medical Conditions
I’ve written a lot about the loophole of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) that allows athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids, growth hormone, amphetamines, etc. for a competitive advantage. I used the 2006 Tour de France as a prime example, where 60% of drug-tested riders had a TUE for some banned substance. The congressional hearings on the Mitchell Report included testimony that over 8% of Major League Baseball players had TUEs for ADD/ADHD drugs such as Adderall or Ritalin.
Gary Gaffney, M.D., from the University of Iowa College of Medicine, offers a defense of TUEs in his blog: [Read more...]