In the history of Major League Baseball, they haven’t caught a player who used a concoction of anabolic steroids and other drugs. The implementation of rigid steroid testing by the league also lessened the incidence of steroid use both in the minor and major league. A 50-game suspension is not the type of punishment any player wants. The league is imposing this tough punishment for steroid users to discourage them from using performance enhancing drugs.

But a report from the New York Times will put a major league player on baseball’s history. According to the NY Times, the league confirmed that a baseball player was given 50-game suspension for failing the anti-doping test of the league. However, this is not an ordinary failed test. The league said that they found 5 banned substances in the player’s system. Its five different substances!

Of course, you become interested on the identity of this player. If you are asking if he is one of the star players in baseball, he is not. Some baseball fans may not be even familiar with this left handed pitcher because of his short stint in the majors and last year he played in the minors. He is Dustin Richardson.

Richardson played for the Red Sox and Florida Marlins. But he only played for more or less 30 games in the majors. Last year, he was acquired by the Marlins and Atlanta Braves in the minors. The pitcher is now a free agent after the Braves released him this month.

5 Banned Substances, Including 3 Anabolic Steroids

According to the NY Times report, Richardson’s drug test result showed 3 different types of anabolic steroids, prescription drug letrozole and amphetamines. The anabolic steroids were methenelone, methandienone and trenbolone. Letrozole is a drug that counters the side effects of steroids while the source of amphetamines is not yet clear. It could be from a famous ADHD drug which is also a popular PED in baseball.

The league can allow players to take prescription medication provided they apply for therapeutic exemption. It was learned that Richardson did not apply any.

Anti-Doping Experts Stunned by the Result

Former chairman of WADA’s prohibited list and methods committee, Dr Gary Wadler, said that it was unusual that these steroids were found in a single test. Though he admits that most users stack steroids to get better results and use it in combination to maximize the benefits and minimize the side effects. “There are protocols from supposed gurus you can find by searching on the Internet. But there’s no real science behind any of it,” said Wadler. Sources from the league also said that the case of Richardson is unusual.

Don Catlin, an anti-doping scientist, was also stunned by this report. “I’ve never seen a case like this, and we’re talking about 30 years I’ve been doing this kind of work,” Catlin told Andrew Keh of the NY Times. He added that there were some cases of athletes who used up to 3 banned substances but Richardson’s case is new. Ingesting 3 different subclasses of drugs is not normal. With this kind of doping, the athlete is at greater risk because each type of steroid has its own side effects and it can increase the chance of adverse reaction of the drugs.

Richardson Hoping for another Chance

Since the left handed pitcher is a free agent now, it will be hard for him to find a new team especially that he will be sidelined for the first 50 games. Richardson avoided the media but her mother told the newspaper that his son already admitted his mistakes and is hoping that he will be able to comeback in the field. The steroid test was conducted last November and Dustin was informed of the test result two weeks ago.

After mistakenly accusing a beach volleyball player of doping, Ladetec, the only WADA accredited laboratory in Brazil received 6-month suspension.

The penalty pertains to the case of the Brazilian player, Pedro Solberg, who was drawn into the issue of using testosterone. Ladetec reported a positive drug test result after testing Solberg’s urine sample last year. Based on the test conducted by the laboratory, the volleyball player is positive for steroid Androstanediol.

This was however strongly contested by Solberg, claiming that he is not into steroids. The incident was later investigated by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). The organization decided to conduct a repeat test at a German laboratory to verify the drug test result. But the second test showed a negative result, clearing Solberg on any drug related issue.

Suspension Still Allow Brazil’s Anti-Doping Lab to Conduct Other Doping Test

The suspension apparently cover only the test that is responsible for detecting anabolic steroids and synthetic testosterone called isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). Penalty imposed to the Rio laboratory does not include other tests that are offered by the laboratory. The anti-doping laboratory will continue to receive and test samples. They are only required to transfer any IRMS test to other laboratories.

As per reference to the statement released by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Ladetec can still conduct all other forms of doping test and remains to be considered an accredited laboratory. WADA further states that in the course of the suspension period, they would be conducting a re-evaluation of the status of the Rio laboratory. In any case that a laboratory does not meet ISL (International Standard for Laboratories) requirements, WADA has the right to suspend the laboratory’s accreditation.

Francisco Radler, Ladetec’s boss did not release any statement regarding the decision imposed by WADA. An appeal can still be filled by the doping control laboratory within 21 days.

Brazil’s representative at WADA Eduardo de Rose, who at the same time acted as the head of the medical commission at the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), regard the suspension normal and acceptable rather than facing a much worse situation of the revocation of Ladetec’s accreditation.

“It is important to understand that not all labs are proficient in every technique. This is something normal that can happen to laboratories. The problem would have been if (Ladetec’s) accreditation had been revoked,” Radler said.

Anti-Doping Lab Must Meet WADA’s Standards

The penalty however, came as a hard blow to Brazil since the Olympic Committee chose their country to host the 2016 Olympics. On top of that, the country will also host the 2014 Soccer World Cup.

The Rio laboratory is then expected to test samples for all athletes participating in the said events being the only WADA-approved facility in Brazil. All athletes participating in any international and national competition are subjected for steroid tests under the WADA rules. This is applicable in any type of sports being held at the world cups and Olympics. The WADA rules further include that all qualifying matches leading to the Olympics will undergo doping tests.

With two gigantic sports event on their plate, it is very important for Brazil to have an accredited anti-doping lab within the country to facilitate testing of athletes. With Ladetec, on suspension and re-evaluation phase, Brazil should keep their fingers crossed. They must hope that the anti-doping lab will meet WADA’s requirements with regards to steroid testing.

Earlier reports hinted that Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal will contest the result of his positive steroid test. However, recent interviews showed that Lawal will not refute the test result. Instead he will just explain to the commission the possible cause of his failed test and how the steroid got into his system. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) already scheduled a meeting with the MMA fighter next week to hear the case.

Lawal showed an impressive performance against Lorenz Larkin at the Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine event. He won via TKO. The top light heavyweight contender, however, will be facing a tougher situation when he faces the state athletic commission. Fighters failing a steroid test usually receive 1 year suspension from the sports plus fines and forfeiture of the title. His goal to be back in the light heavyweight division of the Strikeforce is becoming nil, for now.

HD Net Inside MMA Interview with Lawal:

Lawal Blamed Supplement from Popular Health Nutrition Store

In an interview with Ariel Helwani of the MMA Hour, King Mo Lawal and his manager admits that the fighter took a supplement prior to his fight last January 7. Lawal said that he bought the supplement S-Mass Lean Gainer by Rock Solid at a famous health nutrition store in California. He explained that he started to take the supplement sometime in April 2010 but used the supplement once in a while to help him recuperate. The supplement was recommended by an employee of the health store when he asked about a supplement that could help his muscles during weight training.

The Strikeforce fighter insisted that the label of the supplement does not mention it contains anabolic steroids. The fact that it was sold at a supplement store, he believed that it does not contain steroid of any kind. “When I went to Max Muscle, I figured you can’t buy steroids at a Max Muscle,” he said. “When I looked at the bottle, it just had a bunch of numbers on it. It had the ingredients. I didn’t see anything that looked illegal on the bottle, to be honest with you,” Lawal told Helwani. He also said that he never heard of the steroid drostanolone until the press asked him about the positive test.

The supplement S-Mass Lean Gainer was already pulled out from the shelves in mid-2011 according to his manager Mike Kogan. It was removed from the market because of its potent steroid content, Methyldrostanolone. Lawal admitted that he did not make any research on the said supplement.

Lawal Will Convince NSAC that He is a Victim of Tainted Supplement

Based from the interviews, Lawal and his camp will convince the athletic commission that he is just a victim of a tainted supplement. Since they already confirmed that there will be no appeal, the hearing next week will just probably focus on his explanation why he failed the steroid test. “What we will file is an answer, and an answer would involve affirming their test results and providing our findings and our explanation,” said Kogan.

One of the possible issues that will be raised by Lawal is the mislabeled supplement. When he purchased the product, it was not illegal and was not marketed as an anabolic steroid. “We had no intent of taking any illegal substance and we believe we have enough evidence and enough character references to make that point very clear,” Kogan said.

I’m Clean

King Mo insisted that he is clean and never tried to cheat just to win the game. His clean record from his collegiate and international wrestling competitions is a proof that he is not a cheater. “For me, the best way to get an advantage over your opponent is through hard work, preparation, and your skills,” said King Mo. He also said that game-planning is the best way to beat an opponent.

However, under the existing rules, fighters who are caught using banned substances will be held responsible. This is regardless if they took it inadvertently or a victim of tainted supplements.

Lawal knows that people will accuse him of doping. But the MMA fighter is still optimistic that he will be able to get out of this mess because he’s telling the truth.

The effort to curb abuse of prescription medication is now in effect in New Jersey. People who are using illegally obtained prescriptions for painkillers, steroids, and HGH can be easily detected with the new drug monitoring program. The program would surely boost the ability of the state in recognizing prescription drug abusers systematically in a shorter span of time.

The goal of New Jersey to restrain those people who suffer from prescription drug addiction started five years ago after passing a law that would regulate the tracking of prescription drug abuse. It was also considered as helpful tool in possible apprehension of drug dealers.

The Growing Concern for Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drugs are more prone to be abused by Americans than the illicit street drugs like cocaine, hallucinogens and heroin. Cases of untimely deaths that are either due to the patient taking too large a dose or mixing different types of medication without medical supervision is becoming a wide concern. Prescription drugs have been found to be more dangerous than street drugs, mainly because users get a false sense of safety since doctors routinely prescribe them for patients.

The implementation of the program was hastened by the alleged involvement of several NJ law enforcement officers in the use of performance enhancing drugs like steroids. Adopting a database monitoring program would likely put halt in the widespread abuse of steroids and human growth hormone by police and firefighters in the state. It would also address the growing trend of young adults being involved in prescription drug abuse.

Database Aims to Spot Drug Abusers

The State Attorney General Jeff Chiesa told the media that one of the recent accomplishment of the program is tracking down a person who allegedly obtained a four-month supply of oxycodone and methadone to three New Jersey pharmacies on 14 separate occasions by presenting illegally acquired prescriptions.

The database aims to help authorities in New Jersey track any prescription of unusually large amount of narcotic, steroids, pain killers and other prescription drugs. Thomas Calcagni, the director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs also announced that the database would facilitate the tracking of all prescription filled in the state of New Jersey and into the state of New Jersey by pharmacies that ship into the state.

Since September 1 up to date, there had been more than 4 million prescriptions entered into the database. Information came from almost 2, 000 pharmacies throughout the state. Doctors and pharmacist would be able to access detailed patient information and mail-order operations on prescriptions for sedatives, painkillers, stimulants and steroids. Despite the fact that New Jersey came late in implementing this program Calagni claimed that better provisions were included after learning from those of other states.

Inclusion of Human Growth Hormone

Part of the improvement was the inclusion of tracking of human growth hormone prescription. HGH is used for certain medical conditions but its use by bodybuilders and professional athletes is now becoming a trend. Law enforcement agencies were also given authority to access the information after obtaining a court order declaring probable cause. This is considered a higher standard as compared with the programs of other states which only allows searches on the database if it is related to an active investigation.

Calagni further stressed that they will be more vigilant in monitoring drug abuse in the state. Any sign of abuse will be monitored by Calagni’s division warning doctors when patients exceed certain threshold. They will not wait for doctors and pharmacist to contact law enforcement agencies on any suspicious activity of a certain patient.

The Optimum Technology of Columbus, Ohio, was chosen to supervise the database that cost $244,000 to set up and about $177,000 a year to maintain. A quite costly program but nonetheless authorities claims that they will save much more by identifying drug abusers and saving lives altered by prescription drug abuse.

Dietary supplements can be purchased on any health store without prescription. It can also be sold without the need for strict regulation from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). However, there are many cases where a dietary supplement contains synthetic anabolic steroids. Whether this is a deliberate act or unintentional, supplement companies are liable under existing laws.

Last week, three supplement companies were held liable for selling adulterated dietary supplements. Their products were found to have anabolic steroid ingredients. LawFuel website reported that supplement company Axis Lab, LLC was found guilty of manufacturing and selling tainted dietary supplement. The company which is based in Centennial, Colorado was sentenced a year of probation, forfeiture of $107,000, and required to pay a fine amounting to $50,000.

Monster Caps Contain Steroids

According to the FDA Criminal Investigation Unit, the company engaged in manufacturing, labeling, selling and shipping of certain food products. However, one of their supplement, “Monster Caps” allegedly contains a potent anabolic steroid. Monster Caps was sold as a weight loss supplement and also used to develop muscle mass. The inclusion of steroids in the ingredient of the said supplement makes it a regulated drug. It requires approval of the FDA and a prescription is required before it can be sold to patients.

Monster Caps was available for sale on the internet from 2008 to 2009. Many of its users came from the various states in the country and distributed through US Postal Mail or UPS, the report said. FDA Special agent Patrick J. Holland said that they will continue to investigate companies who are selling steroids but masked as a dietary supplement. “Consumers need to have confidence that products claiming to be ‘dietary supplements’ are not, in fact, unapproved new drugs. We will aggressively investigate those who place profits over public health by marketing purported dietary supplements that contain drug substances such as synthetic anabolic steroids,” Holland said.

2 Companies Admitted Selling Supplements with Steroids

Meanwhile, US District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also issued 1-year probation and fined two supplement companies from California and Michigan. The company DDC, LLC and R & D Holdings were fined $125,000 and $21,000 respectively. It represents the total revenue that they generated from selling the tainted supplements. The IdahoStatesman website did not disclosed the brands of the tainted dietary supplements sold by these companies and the particular type of steroids found in these supplements.

The representatives of the two companies pleaded guilty last year. They admitted that the company is responsible for the introduction and delivery into interstate commerce drugs that were misbranded with the intent to defraud. In addition to the huge fine, the judge also required the DDC, LLC to implement strict testing procedures to ensure that their products will not be tainted with anabolic steroids. They have to do this for 5 years.

Meanwhile, the R & D Holdings already ceased its production of supplements according to the prosecution. The company was also banned from manufacturing supplements for the next 2 years as part of the probation.

These two companies allegedly supplied an Idaho-based supplement distributor who has a capacity to sell supplements around the country. Though it was not mentioned in the court documents, the IdahoStatesman infer that it could be the popular bodybuilding site raided by the authorities in 2009. The Meridian-based bodybuilding site sold bodybuilding supplements online but was investigated by the authorities due to reports that they sell anabolic steroids. Later, the company agreed to pull out at least 65 supplements which purportedly contain anabolic steroids.

As the host country for the 2012 Olympics, the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) works hard to clean their roster of athletes competing in the Olympiad. They want to show to other participating countries that they will not tolerate cheaters. One way to do that is to impose stiff sanctions to erring athletes even if these athletes can provide gold for the United Kingdom.

Just recently, the UKAD announced that they handed the maximum sanction to one of the country’s top sprinter in the women’s division. A four-year ban was given to sprinter Bernice Wilson after anti-doping officials found two types of anabolic steroids in her system last June. Wilson represented the country in the European indoor championships in Paris and had a best time of 7.25 sec. in 60 meters. It was in the Bedford International Games where she tested positive for the steroid clenbuterol and testosterone.

Wilson Lost the Appeal

Bernice Wilson appealed but the National Anti-Doping Panel hearing her case ruled that she must be given a 4-year ban from the sport. The independent panel even castigated her for blaming other people and for not being truthful in her arguments. In its decision, the panel ruled that Wilson’s arguments were entirely without merit. She was even ordered to pay the UKAD for the costs incurred in the appeal proceedings.

Under the WADA Code, first time offenders are usually given 2-year suspension from the sport. However, in cases where an athlete was caught using more than two banned substances, the suspension can reach up to 4 years. It also states that the maximum penalty can also be given if the offending party uses deceptive conduct to get away with his or her doping.

BOA and UKAD Stands Firm on the 4-Year Ban

According to Andy Parkinson, the chief executive of UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), the case of Bernice Wilson will serve as a strong message to doping athletes. “It gives clean athletes the confidence we’re working hard on their behalf, within the framework of the World Anti-Doping Code, to protect their right to compete in doping free sport,” he said. Cheating in sports is betrayal which should not be tolerated. “We’ve successfully argued for a four-year ban which demonstrates UK Anti-Doping always seeks robust sanctions against athletes who look to cheat the system and betray those around them,” added Parkinson.

On the other hand, the chairman of the British Olympic Association Lord Moynihan also issued a statement regarding the maximum sanction on Wilson. “The message here is very clear: if you cheat, you should expect to be caught and sanctioned,” said Moynihan. He also added that there is absolutely no room in Olympic and international sport for the use of banned substances. “The rules are in place to protect the integrity of sport and the health and well-being of the overwhelming majority of athletes who choose to compete clean,” he added.

Hi-Tech Olympic Lab Unveiled

The UK Olympic organizers also unveiled their state of the art laboratory to be used during the 2012 London Olympics. The laboratory which is based in Harlow, Essex can test up to 6,250 blood and urine samples during the event. It will be manned by 150 scientists and being supported by GlaxoSmithKline, a leading pharma company. Participants in the summer Olympics will be tested randomly, in and out of competition.

Former Dopers Out of Olympics

Former athletes who already served their doping suspension will be facing a hard time getting their shot at the Olympics. The BOA is determined to block them from participating. A hearing on this issue will be held on March at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Cyclist David Millar and sprinter Dwain Chambers may not be able to represent their country because of steroid related suspension. “We are confident we can win the case. We are standing by the declared desire of the vast majority of British athletes to see serious drugs cheats are not allowed to participate in the Olympics,” Moynihan told the media.

Another case of harsh punishment was given to shot putter Carl Fletcher last month. The athlete was involved in drug trafficking which include 16 types of class C substances. He distributed various types of anabolic steroids like trenbolone and testosterone. He was also caught selling human growth hormone. Fletcher was sentenced to nine month in prison plus a 4-year ban from the sport.