March 06, 2007
For Whom the Bell Tolls
David Bell and John Rocker join the list of players involved in the Signature Pharmacy case. Bell is not denying he took HGH (this is wrong, he took HCG,see correction below), and most importantly, he took it last year when the product was clearly banned:
David Bell, a veteran of a dozen major league seasons, received six packages of HCG at a Philadelphia address last April, when he played for the Phillies. The cost was $128.80, and the drug was prescribed in conjunction with an Arizona antiaging facility. Bell acknowledges receiving the shipment but tells SI the drug was prescribed to him "for a medical condition," which he declined to disclose, citing his right to privacy.
Is there a medical exemption for HGH in the CBA? (Giving the previous one a quick look, I don't see one.) As the article explains, giving HGH to adults is dubious at best:
HGH can be prescribed by doctors for legitimate medical purposes. Historically, this has meant combating rare pituitary disease and treating patients with progressively debilitating conditions resulting from AIDS and some forms of cancer. Yet lately some doctors have ascribed a liberal definition to "legitimate medical purposes," contending that aging is, in effect, a progressively debilitating disease and that any patients with diminishing hormone levels are eligible for the drug. The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, a Chicago-based group that supports using HGH to replace growth hormone as its levels decline with age, counts more than 10,000 health-care practitioners among its members. This "off-label," or unorthodox, use of HGH is the source of significant controversy in the medical community. "It's a ruse," says Dr. Thomas Perls, an associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine, who maintains the website antiagingquackery.com. "The public has equated hormones with youth, and HGH is the drug of choice for these hucksters to push." (Through a spokesman the academy said in a statement to SI that Perls's comment "is on the level of that of a 'flat earth society' uninformed person.")
It seems MLB is within its rights to discipline Bell, just like the disciplined Grimsley.
Hat tip, Balls, Sticks and Stuff.
Correction: I misred the article. Bell admitted to using HCG, which:
In the male, hCG injections are used to stimulate the leydig cells to synthesize testosterone. The intratesticular testosterone is necessary for spermatogenesis from the sertoli cells. Typical indications for hCG in men include hypogonadism and fertility treatment.
So this drug is more in the class of drugs that encourage natural production of testosterone. Does anyone have a link to the banned drug list? I don't know if HCG is on it.
Posted by David Pinto at
03:52 PM
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Is Bell even on a team to be suspended from?
What is up with all of the sons of former major leaguers being caught in the current drug scandals? Barry Bonds, Jerry Hairston, David Bell and Gary Matthews.....is there something there?
yeah, they already have the names of the doctors to go to....
Bell is admitting to HCG - not HGH.
FWIW, Rocker is claiming he took it under a doctor's order with a prescription for his torn rotator cuff.
Now, whether that's a smokescreen or not, I don't know, just thought in the interest of fairness his story should be out there too:
"That was a growth hormone that was prescribed by a doctor in relation to his rotator cuff surgery in 2003, so I don't really think there is anything to the story," Debi Curzio, Rocker's publicist, told the Daily News for a story on the newspaper's Web site Tuesday night."
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-steroidraid&prov=ap&type=lgns