In an effort to curtail the use of any kind of performance enhancing drugs, the Major League Baseball decided to implement blood testing for human growth hormone on its minor leaguers. The Commissioner released a statement that the new anti-doping policy will be effective immediately. The National Center for Drug Free Sport will handle the blood sample collection on randomly selected Minor League affiliates. The center currently handles the collection of urine samples for steroid testing. The Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, on the other hand, will be responsible in determining whether the samples are positive for human growth hormones.

According to Bud Selig, the implementation of blood testing in the Minor League represents a significant step in the detection of the illegal use of human growth hormone. The MLB has instituted a comprehensive drug policy in the minor league. In fact, they already handed suspensions to some erring players caught using anabolic steroids. “The Minor League Program employs state of the art testing procedures and the addition of HGH testing provides an example for all of our drug policies in the future,” said Selig.

For many years, critics has been very vocal on the inability of the major league to institute a more comprehensive drug testing policy which must include testing for human growth hormone. There are already many baseball players who admitted that they used growth hormones in the past. Some of them are Mark McGwire, Andy Pettite and Roger Clemens. Though Clemens still denies that he use human growth hormones or any performance enhancing drug during the prime of his career.

The failure of the MLB to adopt blood testing could be attributed to the collective bargaining in the league. The commissioner can’t implement any major policy without the concurrence of the MLB Players Association. Although, the players association indicated that they are willing to subject themselves to blood testing especially for HGH if there are already established and reliable testing for the said drug.

According to the MLBPA Executive Director Michael Weiner, they have been talking with the commissioner’s office on this subject for several months. “We look forward to further discussions with the commissioner’s office on this important topic, said Weiner. He also said that the top officials of the league did not discuss the specifics of their plan to start the random blood test in the minors.

Testing for HGH is considered as the first in the US for national sports. However, testing for this drug is already in place in the Olympics. Human growth hormone is also considered as a performance enhancing drug because of its anti-aging characteristics and it helps grow muscles. Most injured players use this drug to help them recover from injuries faster. HGH is not detected in urine. People who are against blood testing for HGH still questions the validity of its results and they consider it as an invasive procedure.

Gary Wadler of WADA welcomed the action of the MLB in adopting blood testing in the minor league. He believes that it is a significant step forward in curtailing the use of PED’s in the sport. WADA affirms their stand that blood testing for HGH is now reliable. They have been using the procedure since 2004 in the Olympics.

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