Archive for December, 2011

Seven people linked to Operation Puerto doping scandal of cycling will stand trial in Spain, facing up to two years in prison.

On Wednesday, Madrid’s Superior Court said in a statement that sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, former Liberty Seguros team boss Manolo Saiz and five others arrested in 2006 on suspicion to offer doping services to cyclists will be tried.

From Mercurynews.com:

Puerto implicated more than 50 cyclists—including three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich and Alejandro Valverde—in the use of performance-enhancing substances or practices. Spanish sports bodies could not use evidence to ban athletes because of Spanish law, which has since changed.

The accused, who also stand to lose their professional licenses, are charged with endangering athletes’ health in their handling of blood samples because they cannot be retroactively charged for a doping crime.

Cycling’s biggest doping scandal has impacted Spain’s reputation against doping because a Madrid judge twice shelved the case.

Bags of blood, blood transfusion equipment, and anabolic steroids were found by Spanish authorities from raids in Zaragoza and Madrid in May 2006.

Johannes Wilson who is alleged to have a gang association and a reputation for supplying anabolic steroids to body builders has been struck off the register on charges relating to irregular prescribing.

The doctor was understood to have left the country and did not appear or defend himself at the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT) hearing.

From Nzherald.co.nz:

Dr Wilson was found guilty of all of eight charges laid by the Medical Council’s Professional Conduct Committee, including importing Jintropin, a non-consented growth hormone, without the testing data required under the Medicines Act 1981.

Dr Wilson ran three Auckland clinics from 2001: a men’s health clinic, a clinic associated with a gym and a solo practice.

A witness who had been a body builder said Dr Wilson would inject him and fellow body builders with steroids and other body-enhancing drugs in quick consultations without any physical examination or history taken.

Dr Wilson was found guilty in July 2006 of professional misconduct for three failed vasectomies on two men.

DNA testing would be used by police in the case against an East Maitland woman who has denied 10 drug-related charges, to ascertain whether she handled bags and jars containing illegal substances found in her home.

The 43-year-old Jeanette Bieman submitted to application of the police for a DNA swab when she appeared briefly in court.

From Maitlandmercury.com.au:

She has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges laid after police searched her Brisbane Street home on July 13, including allowing her residence to be used as drug premises; possession of a total of 3.94 grams of amphetamine; possession of nine grams of cannabis; possession of one LSD tablet; possession of restricted substances Sustanon 250 (testosterone) and five Seroqel tablets containing Quetiapinene Funarate; possession of a crossbow without a permit; and possession of $1560 suspected to be the proceeds of crime.

The application made to the court for a DNA sample from Ms Bieman said police believed there were reasonable grounds that “taking of a forensic procedure might produce evidence tending to confirm or disprove the suspect committed the offence”.

Bieman denied knowledge of the substances when police searched her home.

The USADA has suspended Kathy Jager for a period of two years after testing positive for anabolic steroids at the masters track and field championships.

The USADA issued a statement that the 68-year-old Jager’s positive test occurred on July 29 at the event in Berea, Ohio.

From Washingtonpost.com:

The doping offense involved the use of a prescribed medication under the care of a physician, but without first seeking a therapeutic use exemption as required by the rules.

Jager, of Glendale, Ariz., accepted a two-year period of ineligibility, which began on Sept. 9, the day she accepted a provisional suspension.

The positive test of Jager has once again highlighted the deep-rooted relationship between sportsmen and anabolic steroids.

The Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) football is once again troubled by steroids.

Olivier Renière, a running back with the Université de Montréal Carabins who was found to be using a substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s 2011 “prohibited list” will be banned for two years from all CIS sports.

From Cupwire.ca:

Renière’s adverse result came out of testing conducted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) at the Carabins’ training camp Aug. 23. Renière has waived his right to an appeal.

“I admit to having consumed dietary supplements purchased on the internet from the United States in an attempt to save money, and I was well aware of the risk of contamination associated with purchases of this sort and that the Carabins medical team was opposed to players taking dietary supplements,” Renière said in a statement.

“The substance detected by the CCES did not appear on the list of ingredients indicated on these supplements. I deeply regret my decision, and I’m now paying a much higher price by being deprived of playing a sport that has been my passion for years.”

Renière tested positive for 19-norandrosterone, which contains nandrolone, an anabolic steroid.

Some poultry raisers have been injecting steroids on the chickens to accelerate growth owning to intense commercial competition, according to Dr. Silvino Teodosio Jr. of Iloilo Provincial Veterinarian.

This was one of the reasons that chickens could already be harvested after 35 days, instead of the 45-day raring period, as per Teodosio.

From Tempo.com.ph:

Some medical studies also revealed that this performance-enhancing drug has an even more dangerous effect in the presence of female hormones, leading women to become more prone to the growth of a cyst in the womb.

It has also some effects on genetic changes.

Teodosio said they have no way to stop this malpractice of some poultry raisers because their chickens are also undergoing inspection by the Meat Inspection Services under the Department of Agriculture (DA) especially before their disposal.

“Big poultry raisers have their in-house veterinarians (who) are technically experts, know more (about) feeds and vaccines,” he said.

“These steroids have terrifying effects on the body as it accelerates growth and the long-term effect of eating chicken with presence of these steroids are more harmful to human health,” Teodosio said.

The shattered Olympic dreams of Matildas could be revived as Australia appeals to have North Korea banned from next year’s London Games over a doping row.

The national women’s soccer team narrowly missed a 2012 Olympic berth after it finished third at the Asian qualifying tournament in September behind Japan and North Korea, who claimed the two Games spots.

From News.smh.com.au:

North Korea were banned by FIFA from competing in the 2015 Women’s World Cup following a doping scandal at the 2011 World Cup in Germany in June-July.

Five players tested positive to steroids and received bans of up to 18 months, while the team’s doctor was banned for six years.

It’s understood FIFA’s disciplinary committee wanted to punish North Korea only in the same competition, and therefore did not extend the whole team ban to the Olympics.

Matildas players are incensed at the decision, especially as no drug tests were taken at the Olympic qualifying tournament in China, in which they suffered a key opening 1-0 loss to North Korea.

“We think it’s strange that a team is banned for 2015 and not 2012 so we have raised the issue with WADA, the IOC and FIFA but so far to no avail,” Football Federation Australia national teams chief John Boultbee told AAP.

A Belrose man who was recently charged with possessing anabolic steroids faces more charges after police executed a search warrant of the 20-year-old man’s house last night.

The man was arrested by Northern Beaches detectives at 6.50pm on Thursday in the carpark of a fitness centre on Endeavour St, Chatswood.

From Manly-daily.whereilive.com.au:

They allegedly found two syringes filled with a clear liquid in the man’s car and six glass containers containing steroids in a backpack in the car.

Last night police were granted a warrant to search the man’s home in Caleyi Way at Belrose.

Police allegedly found 10 more vials of illegal steroids in the home.

They will all be sent for testing to confirm they are a restricted substance under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966.

The arrest followed an investigation into the sale and distribution of illegal steroids in Sydney’s north, police said.

UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen has been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) following a failed drug test he took prior to his UFC 117 bout against middleweight champion Anderson Silva on Aug. 7, 2010.

Sonnen dominated the fight with takedowns and punches but Silva managed to make a triangle choke submission to force Sonnen to tap out.

From Prommanow.com:

The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) has suspended the license of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Chael Sonnen, after Sonnen tested positive for steroids, a banned substance.

A sample from Sonnen’s August 6 drug test came back with a high T/E (testosterone-to-estrogen) level, which is indicative of anabolic steroid use. CSAC learned of the results September 2 and ordered a second test, which also came back positive for steroid use. CSAC received test results from the second sample on September 14 and suspended Sonnen two days later. He is suspended for one year. Sonnen has 30 days to appeal the decision.

“The use of anabolic steroids and other banned substances are not tolerated by the commission,” said CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd. “Anabolic agents put the health and safety of both the user and his opponents at risk.”

The sample of Sonnen was sent to the World Anti-doping Agency test facility at the University of California, Los Angeles on August 6, 2010 for processing.

Bacterial corneal ulcers responded no better to adjunctive topical steroids than to placebo, according to the results of a randomized trial.

“A larger study examining only severe corneal ulcers is needed to confirm this supposition,” Nisha R. Acharya, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, and co-authors wrote. “To our knowledge, this is the first large randomized controlled trial to provide evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of bacterial corneal ulcers.”

From Medpagetoday.com:

Use of topical steroids to treat corneal ulcers has remained controversial for decades, owing to a lack of data to provide a definitive answer. The clinical rationale lies in steroids‘ potential to reduce immune-mediated damage and in evidence of efficacy in some systemic bacterial infections.

In an effort to resolve the uncertainty, investigators in the U.S. and India conducted the Steroids for Corneal Ulcers Trial (SCUT). They enrolled 500 patients, primarily from India, with culture-positive bacterial corneal ulcers, who had been using topical moxifloxacin for 48 hours.

Patients were randomized to 1% prednisolone phosphate or placebo in addition to moxifloxacin. They were followed for three months.

The primary endpoint was best spectacle-corrected visual acuity at the end of the study. Secondary outcomes included adverse events; infiltrate/scar size; rigid contact lens-corrected visual acuity at three weeks, three months, and 12 months; time to resolution of epithelial defect; and best spectacle-corrected visual acuity at three weeks and 12 months.

The study was supported by the National Eye Institute and Alcon/Novartis provided the moxifloxacin used in the study.