A Chinese drug company that manufactures human growth hormone pleaded guilty for unauthorized distribution of a prescription drug in the country. GeneScience Pharmaceutical Company and its chief executive officer Lei Jin agreed to a plea agreement which requires them to forfeit more than $7.5 million. This is aside from the $2.7 million which was previously forfeited in favor of the government.

Though the company’s major marketing activities were done through the internet, the entry of the HGH drug in the US still requires approval of the FDA and other regulatory agencies because it is a prescription drug. “GeneScience never obtained approval from the FDA to market Jintropin in the US, where hGH is available only through doctor’s prescription for strictly defined uses,” authorities said. Jintrophin, GeneScience’s brand of hGH, was a hot item for bodybuilders and professional athletes in the country. In fact, some celebrities including Sylvester Stallone were reported to be using the hGH Jintrophin.

Based on court records, the HGH Jintrophin dominated the market for human growth hormone in the country. More than 90 percent of HGH illegally sold into the US was from GeneScience Pharmaceuticals. The investigation on the Chinese drug company started when authorities launched “Operation Raw Deal” that targeted doping in professional sports. There were also other cases where the company was sued because of the alleged serious side effects of their hgh product.

Since the drug did not pass any quality assurance from the FDA, users of HGH Jintrophin are on a greater risk of getting negative side effects. “HGH, when distributed and used unlawfully, poses a serious health threat, particularly to young people who ignore the risks of such substances in an effort to enhance athletic performance,” said district attorney Peter Neronha.

GeneScience will forfeit $4.5 million in assets and pay $3 million to finance a program aimed to clean the sports of doping. This will be pro rated every year for 3 years. The fund will cover anti-doping costs, research, testing for steroids, human growth hormone and other banned substances. “By paying an additional three million dollars to finance research, testing, and screening, the defendants will pay to counter the effects of hGH and steroid abuse.” The Rhode Island Foundation will manage the fund. Authorities believed that the conviction in the HGH case will deter other companies and individuals to engage in illegal activities like smuggling of human growth hormone and other banned substances.

Prosecutor Peter Neronha lauded the efforts of everybody who took part in the successful investigation and conviction of the Chinese drug manufacturer and its chief executive officer. “There’s no question that the good work done here has put a dent in HGH importation into the United States,” Neronha told the media. The court also sentenced Jin to 5 years probation. He is barred to sell any drugs to United States customers without the approval of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. GeneScience representatives decline to comment on the result of the case when asked by the media.

One of the respondents in the Alabama Mobile Pharmacy case received 6 years and 6 months prison term. Jodi C. Silvio, 51, was a part owner and secretary of the Applied Pharmacy Services. The pharmacy was involved in illegal prescription of anabolic steroids with clients from across the country. Some of the prominent names in professional sports were also linked to the pharmacy. Some of them were baseball players like Jose Canseco and UFC middleweight champion Shane Carwin. Silvio’s length of sentence was based on his direct involvement in the operation of the compounding pharmacy. Aside from being a part owner of the business, he also served as the supervising pharmacist.

U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade however, allowed a 6 months extension of his sentence when the sister of the accused pleaded for a delay in the verdict. Lydia Bennett, sister of Silvio’s ex-wife asks the court to grant her request because she will be undergoing a bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia.

Bennet told the court that she needs her sister to look after her for at least 100 days until she recovered from the operation. Jodi, on the other hand, will be the only one who could take good care of their adopted child. “We desperately need Jodi to take care of K.J. while I fight for my life,” Bennett said. The Press Register reported that Judge Granade is also open to another possible extension if Bennett needs more time.

Meanwhile, Cumberland County Circuit Court dismissed the charges on 3 Cumberland County School employees. The case is about a high school athlete who was given by his coach with anabolic steroids to gain muscle mass. Benjamin Dodd, a 17-year old football player of the Stone Memorial High School filed the charges after he became sick and suffered serious side effects of steroids. The suit claimed that Dodd and his mother did not know that the over-the-counter supplement given to the athlete contain steroids.

Jim Wilson, a part time coach of the school provided the anabolic steroid to Dodd when the latter asked for assistance on what particular supplement he could take to obtain better muscles. Dodd suffered from headaches, chest pains and violent mood swings which persisted for months. The school conducted an inquiry and they found out that the pills were anabolic steroids.

The Circuit Court ruled that the charges on the 3 employees from the school; Tony Akins, Scott Maddox and Dr. Janet Brooker were not sufficient to prove that they were negligent. “As to the viable negligence claims asserted by plaintiff involving such defendants there would be liability on the part of Cumberland County Board of Education, if proven. Accordingly, all claims against the individual defendants Scott Maddox, Tony Akins and Dr. Janet Brooker are hereby dismissed, preserving, however, plaintiffs remaining negligence claims against the Cumberland County Board of Education and all negligence and intentional tort claims against Jim Wilson, individually,” said in the court’s decision.

The court also noted that the plaintiff failed to prove that there was a civil conspiracy between the board and the employees. “The defendant Cumberland County Board of Education has no liability for intentional acts committed by others including defendant Jim Wilson, and to the extent liability for intentional acts of Jim Wilson or others is asserted, such claims are found to be without legal basis or support and are hereby dismissed.”

Coach Wilson already pleaded guilty for selling anabolic steroids and received 6-year suspended sentence. The Crossville Chronicle reported that Wilson sold Oxymetholone, a type of steroid that is used in the treatment of anemia and osteoporosis. However, when used by athletes, this steroid can be helpful in gaining competitive advantage because it helps develop muscles.

Is it necessary to use excessive force in arresting an 84-year old man? What are the circumstances that should be considered before using extreme measures in conducting arrests? These are some of the questions to the Orlando Police Department that still remain unanswered. Last month, a police officer from their department responded to an altercation incident and led to the arrest of an 84-year old man. What makes it controversial is the way the police officer handled the situation. The arresting officer used an excessive force which resulted to a broken neck that sent the old man to the Florida Hospital in Orlando. Based on the report of the Orlando Sentinel, Daniel J. Daley, a World War II veteran was in medically induced coma after surgery to repair a damaged vertebra.

The lawyer of Daley had asked the Orlando Police to subject the responding officer to a steroid test after the incident. Users of anabolic steroids sometimes show aggressive behaviors. Health experts even warned law enforcement officers that the use of anabolic steroids can alter their judgment while performing their duties.

Reports showed that Police officer Travis Lamont used a “dynamic takedown” move in arresting Daley who tried to choke him during an argument. The unfortunate incident started when Daley parked his car outside a grocery store on N. Orange Avenue. However, his car was towed which started the heated argument with the tow-truck driver. When Lamont responded, he decided to arrest the old man which was drunk at that time.

Mark NeJame, lawyer of Daley, said that officer Lamont’s erratic, sporadic and aggressive behavior strongly suggests that he may have been under the influence or affected by the use of steroids. “As you are likely aware, steroid use often rapidly dissipates in the body and becomes undetectable after a relatively brief period of time,” he said.

The lawyer requested for a blood and urine test to know whether Lamont is using anabolic steroids. However, Orlando Police Chief Val Demings refused to force Lamont to submit to a steroid test. Demings argued that it may result to civil rights and labor laws violation. She also added that it is against their collective bargaining agreement and departmental policy. “Other than your bare assertion of erratic behavior, there is no record, fact or evidence to support your claim that the officer was under the influence of steroids,” said Demings in response to the request letter by NeJame.

NeJame challenge the young police officer to just submit himself to steroid testing. “It’s a simple, reasonable request with no allegations. We are not accusing him, we are simply wanting to eliminate any and all possibilities,” the lawyer said. Lamont is not new to controversies. According to reports, he was already involved in three departmental investigations for damaging his patrol car and for making an improper arrest.

Now that the camp of Daley can’t get the cooperation of the police department, they are planning to sue the police officer for violation of Daley’s civil rights, due process, privacy rights violation, using excessive force, slander and defamation.

While it is true that the number of UFC fighters caught using anabolic steroids were not as many as the number in the major league, the nature of the sport still compels most fighters to use performance enhancing drugs. Top officials of the UFC deny that the use of steroids in their league is already rampant. However, fans and sports critics are not convinced that they are in control of their players especially in the use of performance enhancers.

Just recently, Nate Diaz confirmed through an interview that almost all UFC fighters are on steroids. During the interview, he was asked about the Silva-Sonnen fight and the suspension of Sonnen because of anabolic steroid use. Diaz did not give comments on the fight but a lot of people were surprised about his allegation that everybody in the UFC is taking steroids. “It’s not a surprise—not that [Sonnen] was on steroids, but all these guys are on steroids. So, it can’t be surprising when someone pops up on steroids, ya know? It usually should be a surprise when people aren’t on steroids,” Diaz said.

This could be merely an opinion of the fighter but his statements may be true since he is playing for the promotion company. Some sports writers were not expecting about this revelations of Diaz. UFC may just give him his walking papers because of this allegation. On the other hand, the UFC should also do its part in curtailing steroids use in mixed martial arts. It is not only harmful to the fighters but it could also send a wrong message to the fans. An ordinary fan may think that the UFC allows fighters to build muscles and gain more strength just to give the audience a more exciting and bloody game.

Another UFC fighter also explained why the use of steroids in UFC is very difficult to stop. Josh Burkman believes that problem like steroid is an indicator that the MMA is becoming more and more mainstream. “I think a lot of guys in professional sports take performance-enhancing drugs, whether they’re doing it legally or doing it illegally. Guys get bigger opportunities, and maybe they feel like they need more things,” he said.

Professional athletes want to gain competitive advantage by training hard and taking supplements to enhance performance. “It’s too bad that athletes are getting put under this microscope now because whether it’s steroids or whatever it is, athletes have been trying to get an edge one way or another for years and years and years. You can’t take away how hard these athletes work and how hard they train, no matter what they’re doing,” Burkman said.

Burkman was also caught using steroids but he said he already learned his lesson. “The reason why I wasn’t on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” was that I didn’t pass my (steroid) test,” Burkman told Sherdog Radio. The UFC fighter said that he took winstrol because he was out of shape for “The Ultimate Fighter.” He wanted to reduce weight and a friend told him to take Winstrol.

He emphasized that people taking anabolic steroids are not only using it to enhance performance in the sport. There are also some cases where they need to take it to recover from injuries and stay healthy. “They’re taking things for injuries and they’re just trying to stay healthy and stay strong. It’s a rough sport, and guys are going to do what they have to do,” he said. Since there is more money at stake for fighters, the problem with steroids will continue. “There’s more money on the line now. There’s more riches. It’s a deep-rooted problem in athletics and it has been for 100 years, and I don’t see it going anywhere and I don’t see a way of fixing it either,” Burkman added.

Every time professional baseball players showed an impressive performance during a game, steroids always comes in. Should we believe that the major league does not have players with natural skills? The league and the teams will definitely disagree on this even if they are still trying to break the bondage of the steroid era in baseball. Yes, we still have baseball players who possess great skills. However, breaking home runs will always be associated with performance enhancers whether these players are doing their best and have honed their skills to the optimum.

This is happening to Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista. His home run record on Saturday was the first since 2007 when the rampant use of steroid was uncovered. Many people suspects that breaking such record could be attained with the help of performance enhancing substances. Bautista joined some of the best sluggers in baseball like Jim Thome, Prince Fielder and Alex Rodriguez who also have more than 50 home runs in a season. Rodriguez on the other hand was identified as a steroid user.

It was hard for some critics to just believe this performance. Of course, we can’t blame them. Bautista’s previous performances were just comparable with an average baseball player. In fact his career high was in 2006 with 16 home runs. Jon Krawczynski of the Canadian Press agreed that Bautista’s drastic jump in performance will really create a buzz. “His out-of-nowhere emergence has elicited far more suspicion than fan fare, with two eyebrows raised for every one jaw dropped,” he said.

Bautista is not bothered by these insinuations. He said he is not into anabolic steroids. He explained that he was able to improve his performance because of some changes in his approach at the plate. The Toronto Blue Jays slugger said that his number 3 position in the batting order and better pitches also contributed to his home runs. “I’d like to hit one every at-bat, but that’s not realistic,” he added.

Bautista wants the steroid issues to be a thing of the past. He also understands why the question on his possible steroid use is coming out in the media. “Those days are gone. It’s been six years since we have a new program in place. It seems to be working. It’s the most strict in all of professional sports. I don’t see why those questions really come up. The only reason why is the history of what happened in the past,” he told the media during an interview.

The slugger’s roots, the Dominican Republic, may be one of the reasons why anabolic steroid use is being cast on him. There were already several Dominican players, both in the minor and major league, who were sanctioned because of the use of performance enhancers. But as long as the league doesn’t impose any sanction, we can still hold on to the statement of Bautista. Breaking home run record is not impossible. “I’m not thinking about anything. I’m just keeping the focus on the approach and having good at-bats has allowed me to be successful and consistent. I’m not going to change a thing. I’ll just reflect on everything once the season is over,” Bautista added.

By the way, if you are curious if there is a proof that steroids help achieve home run records, you can read this blog post. Physics Professor Linked Steroids to Home Runs.

The steroid controversies surrounding professional sports are unending. Every week, news about players caught or sanctioned because of these drugs remains as headliners. The use of performance enhancing drugs has already seeped into almost all form of sports from the major league, football, wrestling, mixed martial arts, boxing, weightlifting, athletics, cycling and so on. And it has also become the problem of local schools where young athletes are experimenting with performance enhancers to prepare themselves in college spots or the pro. While most of the sports organizations have strict policies in the use of anabolic steroids, it seems that these are not enough. A 4-game to 50-game sanction or lifetime ban from the sports are not deterring professional athletes to take the risk.

At least there are anti-doping organizations that helps educate athletes on the use of anabolic steroids. However, their efforts needs to be supported since most of them are dependent on funding from sponsors. To intensify education campaign on steroids, there are some schools organizing activities and events to address this problem. One of them is the Hofstra Law School in New York. The Hosftra University under the initiative of its Law School will be holding a symposium on the use and abuse of anabolic steroids in sports. Also included in the topic is the discussion of current steroid policies and the role of government in formulating laws on steroids.

The symposium will be held on October 29, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Hofstra Law School on the main Hofstra University, South Campus. some of resource speakers are renowned in their field and have vast experience in professional sports. Richard W. Pound, the former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will be the keynote speaker. He was also named by the Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world because of his unrelenting efforts to get rid of performance-enhancing drugs in sports. He is a current member of the International Olympic Committee where he also served as a vice president.

The organizers are optimistic that this symposium will at least shed light on the role of steroids in sports. Dean Nora V. Demleitner said that the issue of steroid use in sports has become more prevalent, pressing and controversial over the past several years. “By hosting this conference, Hofstra Law brings together key experts and stakeholders who will examine steroid use from a variety of perspectives, as well as positively impact the potential policy, legislative and legal approaches that will surely emerge in the near future,” she said in a press release.

Rick Collins, a specialist in nutrition, fitness and bodybuilding fields and an alumnus of the Law School will be directing the symposium. Participants in the said event are assured that they will learn a lot from the discussion since the organizers invited experts such as doctors, athletes, lawyers, professional sport executives and law enforcement personnel. “The panelist will examine steroids from a variety of angles including the use of steroids for performance enhancement in sports and the current system of catching the “dopers,” as well as the role of government in regulating non-medical steroid use outside athletics,” said in the school’s press release.

Some of the topics that will be discussed are “The Anti-Doping Movement: Athletes’ Health and Rights” and “Beyond Sports: A Steroid Nation?”