Baseball pitching star Roger Clemens, winner of a record seven Cy Young Awards, sat silently in federal court as his trial opened on charges of perjury and obstruction of Congress.

The baseball star is facing charges that carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

From NPR.org:

Clemens remained expressionless as the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Durham, told the jury that the government had physical proof that the 48-year-old onetime pitching ace had been repeatedly injected with anabolic steroids and human growth hormone.

Clemens, whose fastball was so powerful he earned the nickname “Rocket,” is not charged with using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. Rather, it is his denial of steroid and HGH use in testimony before a House committee in 2008 that could cost him his freedom. He is charged with six different counts of perjury, making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation into the use of banned substances in baseball.

Clemens said during his congressional testimony, “I’ve been accused of something I’m not guilty of. … I’ve never taken steroids or HGH.”

Tags:  Anabolic steroids, baseball, HGH, human growth hormone, Roger Clemens, steroid, Steroids

Posted in  Steroids | No Comments/Questions

Major League Baseball (MLB) has issued a warning to major and minor league players last week for stop ingesting deer antler spray.

It is being thought that some baseball players used to felt safe using a deer antler spray as an alternative to steroids with almost no risk of flunking a drug test.

From Sportsillustrated.cnn.com:

Deer antlers? Yes, chemists have figured out that the velvet from immature deer antlers includes insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1, which mediates the level of human growth hormone in the body, and is also banned by MLB and the World Anti-Doping Agency, among others, for its muscle-building and fat-cutting effects.

The antlers are harvested from young deer, ground up and packaged into spray form. The substance is sprayed under the tongue. One manufacturer touts among its benefits “anabolic or growth stimulation,” “athletic performance” and “muscular strength and endurance.”

IGF-1, like HGH, cannot be detected in the urine tests used by baseball. Under the right circumstances, it could be detected in a blood test, but the players association has not agreed to blood testing.

The deer antler sprat was added by MLB to its list of “potentially contaminated nutritional supplements.”

Tags:  HGH, IGF-1, Major League Baseball, MLB, nutritional supplements, Steroids

Posted in  Steroids | No Comments/Questions

The NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently said the NFL would insist on a mandatory Human Growth Hormone (HGH) testing in the next labor deal with the players.

The National Football League needs to do more to ensure that banned substances are kept out of the sport, according to the commissioner.

From Playerpress.com:

HGH is a protein-based peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals which affects the growth hormone on the tissues of the body and is described as an anabolic just as steroids are.

It is used by athletes in an attempt to enhance their athletic performance although recent studies have not been able to support claims that HGH actually improves athletic performance.

In the United States, HGH is only available legally with a prescription from a doctor.

The use of HGH by NFL players is prohibited by the NFL, but players do not currently test for it.

Tags:  HGH, human growth hormone, National Football League, NFL

Posted in  Steroids | No Comments/Questions

A law calling for enhanced surveillance of human growth hormone (HGH) in the middle growing evidence that the substance is much abused was approved unanimously by the New Jersey Assembly committee.

Growth hormone deficiency affects one of every 100,000 American adults annually, as per the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

From NJ.com:

“We will know whether it’s an individual patient doctor shopping or if it’s a physician who’s dealing,” Conaway told The Star-Ledger. “We’d be able to monitor both ends of the problem.”

The bill would add HGH to the list of drugs within the state’s prescription monitoring program. It follows a Star-Ledger series that revealed wide use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone among hundreds of law enforcement officers and firefighters in New Jersey.

The Star-Ledger found in most cases that the officers used their state-funded health benefits to foot the bill for substances, with the high cost of HGH running up a tab in the millions of dollars.

Health and Senior Services Committee Chairman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington) said the bill will help to counteract the abuse of HGH by patients and doctors.

Tags:  Anabolic steroids, growth hormone, HGH, human growth hormone

Posted in  Steroids | No Comments/Questions

The use of human growth hormone (HGH) for a wide variety of conditions has come under close scrutiny by the Congress. It has also prompted some concern that players could react by limiting reimbursement for legitimate purposes.

Insurers are already reluctant to cover scientifically validated uses of HGH, as per Dr. Richard Hellman, president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

From Internalmedicinenews.com:

An Internet search for “HGH” shows that the drug (or an illicit or counterfeit version) is being promoted for a large number of off-label uses. While this has been a widely known problem, Congress is taking a closer look at HGH and other alleged performance-enhancing substances in the wake of the December report issued by former Sen. George Mitchell that exposed a culture of acceptance for off-label and unproven uses of HGH and anabolic steroids in Major League Baseball.

In mid-February, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on what it called “myths and facts” about HGH, vitamin B12, and other substances.

HGH has been touted as an antiaging cure, and increasingly appears to be used by athletes in the belief that it helps them improve performance and recover from injuries. It also is being investigated as a potential therapy for conditions such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

All of these uses are illegal. HGH is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved product that can only be prescribed for the approved indications. In adults, HGH is legal for AIDS-related wasting syndrome, short-bowel syndrome, and growth hormone deficiency.

Continuing use for purposes that have little to no evidence of safety and effectiveness may ultimately endanger patients who genuinely need HGH, according to Dr. Hellman, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Tags:  Anabolic steroids, growth hormone, HGH, human growth hormone

Posted in  Steroids | No Comments/Questions

A federal grand injury has indicated ex-US baseball star Roger Clemens as he allegedly lied on the use of performance enhancing drugs before the Congress.

If he is convicted of all charges, Clemens could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5m (£960,000) fine.

From BBC.co.uk:

Mr Clemens said under oath in 2008 that Brian McNamee, his former trainer, had lied before the committee about having given the former baseball star performance-enhancing drugs.

“I couldn’t tell you the first thing about it [human growth hormone],” Mr Clemens testified in 2008. “I never used steroids. Never performance-enhancing steroids.”

But Mr McNamee said he had injected Mr Clemens more than a dozen times in three years.

Earl Ward, one of Mr McNamee’s attorneys, called the indictment “vindication”.

In a statement on the micro-blogging website Twitter, Mr Clemens recently wrote: “I never took HGH [human growth hormone] or steroids. And I did not lie to Congress.”

The indictment alleged that Clemens obstructed a congressional enquiry while denying making use of substances while under oath in the year 2008.

Tags:  baseball, HGH, human growth hormone, performance-enhancing drugs, Roger Clemens, Steroids

Posted in  Steroids | No Comments/Questions

Brian McNamee, the former trainer of Roger Clemens, may have proved to be the star witness in the perjury case but Andy Pettitte, the Yankees hero, is all set to lead the supporting cast.

Pettitte is expected to step off the mound and onto the witness stand for testifying against his pitching mentor.

From NYdailynews.com:

Pettitte has already both bolstered McNamee’s credibility and directly contradicted some of the allegedly misleading statements by Clemens that are listed in the six-count indictment issued Thursday against the Rocket. In 2008, Pettitte testified that he used human growth hormone provided by McNamee to expedite his recovery from a 2004 elbow injury, and that he discussed HGH with Clemens in 1999 and 2005.

“Mac told the truth about me,” Pettitte said upon arriving at spring training in 2008, having seemingly survived the congressional probe into baseball’s doping subculture.

Clemens is expected to plead not guilty and this will mean that Pettitte will be all set again to become a key witness in the perjury case against Clemens.

Tags:  Andy Pettitte, Brian McNamee, doping, HGH, human growth hormone, Roger Clemens, Yankees

Posted in  Steroids | No Comments/Questions

The federal grand jury that is holding investigations in case of Roger Clemens for perjury testified David Segui, who became the latest former major leaguer to testify in Clemens’ case.

When asked to comment about his testimony by the media, Segui declined to have a word while leaving the room of grand jury on the third floor of the federal courthouse in the shadow of the Capitol.

From NYdailynews.com:

Segui, whose 15-season Major League Baseball career included parts of two seasons with the Mets, is the latest former ballplayer dragged into the Clemens investigation. Self-proclaimed steroid guru Jose Canseco appeared before the grand jury on June 3 and told reporters afterward that he testified that he had no evidence that Clemens had used performance-enhancing drugs. Former Yankee pitcher Jason Grimsley met with Butler and other investigators in August of 2009, and former pitcher Pedro Borbon Jr. has also been interviewed by investigators involved in the case.

Brian McNamee, former trainer of Clemens, remarked before former Sen. George Mitchell that he injected steroids and HGH a minimum of 16 times to Roger Clemens, seven-time Cy Young Award winner, a fact that was vehemently denied by Clemens.

Tags:  Brian McNamee, David Segui, HGH, Jose Canseco, performance-enhancing drugs, Roger Clemens, steroid, Steroids

Posted in  Steroids | No Comments/Questions