Murray Chass continues to assert that “back acne” is conclusive proof of anabolic steroid use in Mike Piazza – and Barry Bonds. Chass noticed acne on Piazza’s back several years ago and has been convinced that Piazza was a steroid user ever since. While acne on the shoulders and back is often a side effects experienced by steroid users, most people who experience this problem do not use steroids; many steroid users, depending on the selection of steroids and individual susceptibility, don’t experience this side effect. Consequently, acne is a very poor method of determining whether an individual uses anabolic steroids due to the high number of false positive and false negatives. [Read more…]
Archives for January 2011
Jan
30
Texas May Eliminate Failed Steroid Testing in High Schools
Officials in Texas are prepared to eliminate the embarrassingly expensive and ineffective UIL Anabolic Steroid Testing Program. In 2008, Texas passed legislation mandating drug-testing programs for anabolic steroids in students competing in extracurricular sports at public high schools. It was the largest and most costly steroid testing program in the history of high school sports. Several million dollars later, with little to show the taxpayers in the way of results, the legislature is currently unable to find funding to continue the program. [Read more…]
Jan
29
Steroids Invade the NBA – Actually It’s Only DHEA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended the Memphis Grizzlies’ O.J. Mayo for violating the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program after he tested positive for DHEA. Mayo’s first violation of the league’s SPED policy (steroids, performance-enhancing drugs and masking agents) automatically results in a 10-game suspension. The suspension corresponds to a forfeiture of $405,109 of his salary.
Sportswriters are mistakenly reporting that O.J. Mayo is the second basketball player in the NBA to test positive for DHEA. Orlando Magic Rashard Lewis did not test positive for DHEA. He tested positive for anabolic steroid use after failing the testosterone:epitestosterone ratio (T:E ratio) test which is suggestive of exogenous testosterone use. Lewis blamed the positive steroid test on his inadvertent use of DHEA in a smoothie he purchased. [Read more…]
Jan
29
Steroid Use Not to Blame in Iowa Football Mass Hospitalization
Thirteen Hawkeye football players from the University of Iowa were hospitalized due to rhabdomyolsis. Rhabdomyolsis is a condition in which muscle tissue is rapidly broken down leading to severe muscle pain, weakness and soreness; the byproducts of the muscle damage become toxic to the kidneys leading to possible kidney failure.
“Experts” were quick to blame “nephrotoxic” supplements or anabolic steroids for this highly unusual cluster of rhabdomyolsis cases even though no evidence has surfaced to suggest either as a causal factor.
Creatine has previously been blamed for rhabdomyolysis in spite of research suggesting creatine supplementation is safe. Dr. James Williams, of the St. Joseph Medical Center, blames “nephrotoxic” supplements in the Hawkeye football case when interviewed by a CBS affiliate. [Read more…]
Jan
27
Pittsburgh Steelers Can’t Escape Steroid Past
The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV in Dallas’ Jerry World on February 6th. It seems every time the Steelers football team does well enough to make them a contender for the Big Game, sportswriters feel compelled to find a steroid scandal to which they can connect the Steelers.
ESPN’s Mike Fish was fortunate enough to find a scandal when the Steelers played in the 2009 Super Bowl; it doesn’t get any better than connecting a team physician with boat loads of human growth hormone. Sportswriters are usually not so lucky. However, when it comes to the Steelers, they can always take a walk down memory lane, they can provide their readers with a history lesson covering anabolic steroids and the 1970s Steeler dynasty as ESPN’s David Fleming does this year. [Read more…]
Jan
26
Infertility Caused by Deranged Levels of Sex Hormones in Steroid Users
Anabolic steroid induced infertility is growing problem among bodybuilders in the United Kingdom according to urologist Steve Payne of the British Association of Urological Surgeons. Payne claims that “deranged levels” of hormones in steroid-using bodybuilders can cause infertility.
Dr Allan Pacey, a lecturer at Sheffield University, suggests that infertility may be a permanent side effect of anabolic steroid use. [Read more…]
Jan
26
Scotland Opens Clinics for Steroid Users
A new health clinic created specifically for steroid users recently opened in Inverness (Scotland). The clinic was opened in response to the increasing number of steroid users visiting the needle exchange programs in the region. The United Kingdom has a different approach to anabolic steroid abuse than the United States. The UK focuses on harm reduction with the medicalization of steroid abuse whereas the US tends to criminalize the personal use of anabolic steroids. [Read more…]
Jan
25
British Bodybuilder Avoids Prison After Importing Dianabol
A British competitive bodybuilder avoided prison time after police raided his home and found several thousand steroid pills and a price list. Darren Casey had imported two packages of Dianabol (methandienone) containing 1981 and 1996 tablets.
It is not illegal to import anabolic steroids for personal use in the United Kingdom. However, the sale and distribution of steroids is a serious crime. [Read more…]
Jan
25
iForce Pleads Guilty to Selling Designer Steroids as Supplements
Tribravus Enterprises (doing business as iForce) pleaded guilty to “manufacturing and distributing steroid-tainted supplements” according to the Associated Press. The company was required to pay a $125,000 as part of a plea agreement. This is very good news for the iForce and supplement companies facing similar charges. The criminal investigations could have resulted in felony charges against the principals. In this case, the owners and principals of the company avoided felony charges and imprisonment. This is probably the best case scenario for supplement companies in this predicament. [Read more…]
Jan
25
Experts Think Contador Innocence Possible in Clenbuterol Doping Case
Professional cyclist Alberto Contador tested positive for clenbuterol after winning the 2010 Tour de France. Contador was caught with infinitesimally small amounts of clenbuterol that were 40 times less than the minimum standards of detection capability required by anti-doping labs accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). However, WADA has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to clenbuterol; any detected amount, no matter how small, is sufficient to impose a ban. Contador claims the clenbuterol present in his urine was the result of the consumption of meat contaminated with clenbuterol. Many experts think this is a very plausible explanation for the small amounts of clenbuterol discovered [Read more…]
