The Smoking Steroid Gun

Much has come out of the Balco investigation by the DEA and US attorney. Now that discovery is over and trial time is near, the real evidence is available to the press, and they are like kids at Christmas, much to the dismay of to other than Messrs Barry Bonds and lawyers, the US Attorney and now Alex Rodriquez.


Hence a plethora of "shocking" steroid related stories.


Get real, anyone who believes A-Rod and Bonds weren't using roids prior to 2006 must have had vision impairment. Photos don't lie and at the end of 2002, A-Rod's face has the distinctive roids shape: round and pregnant looking. I don't think A-Rod was preggers. That would have been bigger news.


You would think that with A-Rod's money he could have done PEDs in the privacy of his home, much like Roger Clemens.

A-Rod in 2000 Oval Face, no rounding

A-Rod End of 2002 -Roid Use Rounded Face

A-Rod at NYY Announcement 2004, drug free oval face

To pass the NYY physical, A-Rod would have need to be roids free. Or dear old King George would have not signed on the dotted line.

I have no doubt that in the days and weeks to come their will be other shocking announcements. Even some unsuspected players, one not linked to Balco and the Mitchell Report.

As for Alex, his life is in the toilet, let the poor man alone. He's a multi-millionaire, deep in divorce proceedings, and living in the shadow of Derek Jeter and the 32 pages Joe Torre devoted to him in the "The Yankee Years" (By the way I have not gotten there yet, I cannot wait to get to Chapter 8., so far nothing new)

But one last dig, Alex, I would like to congratulate you on your induction into Club Asterisk *. Somehow I think Babe Ruth's record as the All-Time American League Home Leader will never be in jeapordy from you.

Baseball Player's Drugs of Choice

I spent the better part of my professional career as lab rat / pharmaceutical engineer testing anabolic steroids and HGH. The correct drug name for HGH is Somatropin and the anabolics are Nandrolone decanoate (Deca-Durabolin) and Nandrolone phenylpropionate (Durabolin). I worked for the drug company, that manufactured them, they still do, thought I have moved on to provite consulting.

Anabolic Steriods

The anabolic steroids are sterile injections. The drug active is solubilized in Sesame Oil and filled into pre-sterilized vials or syringe for sale to hospitals. It is sued to promote tissue growth in after trauma, either trauma from ambulation or surgical removal. It is commonly given to women who have radical mastectomies to promote growth of the breast tissue and muscle that is removed with the cancer. Having handled the product for testing, I cannot imagine injecting it; it’s like injecting a tablespoon of oil under the skin. Its use is to promote muscle and tissue growth after cancer or where limb amputation has occurred.

The powder forms of the drug actives are common sold to illegal drug manufacturers. They manufacturer the liquid forms. The liquid forms must still solubilized in an oil solvent, however the activity is limited. True performance of the product is from injecting the sterilize liquid under the skin. The only approved legal form of both drugs, a sterile injection. Both active drugs are destroyed in the stomach, therefore oral medications have limited activity until a liquid partially absorbed in the oral mucosa.

The two active substances, Nandrolone decanoate and Nandrolone phenylpropionate are chemically synthesized. Not of animal origin but similar to the naturally occurring hormone in the body. Both materials have been around as approved since 1959. My knowledge of these drugs and Somatropin, HGH comes from the extensive safety precautions we were trained in just to test he materials, raw material and finished drugs.

HGH, Somatropin

Somatropin was originally obtained from urine. The drug hormone was extracted chemical and recrystallized to be prepared for an injectable substance. The original assay for testing the product involved animals. The original drug manufacturer was Eli Lilly & Company of Indiana.

In the late 80’s with the advances in tissue culture, a synthetic form of Somatropin became available. This was desirable due to the issue surround natural substances. Substance of animal origin must be tested for infectious diseases including viruses, especially the hard to detect HIV/HTLV viruses as well as Hepatitis B and C. The new substance could be made using mouse cells implanted with the HGH production gene. The new form of drug manufacture was cheaper and safer.

With the new technology came a new requirement. There must be a validated analytical test for the product, no more animal assay. The FDA and industry does not like animal assays, they have issues, beyond the use of animals. Approval of the better from of HGH required a repeatable analysis other than an animal assay could quarantine the safety of the patient taking the drug.

The new assay for Somatropin using High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) for testing the product. It still uses a rat assay as well as HPLC in testing the drug raw material. However the official test is the HPLC Assay.

For the non chemists out there, HPLC generates a wavelength pattern unique to the material tested. Each pattern is fingerprint, unique to that product. This test has been around and approved or 15 years now, despite claims from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig it (the test) didn’t exist. The International Olympic Committee and other international athletic organization have been using this test to detect HGH use in athletes since the early 90s.

Somatropin is also a product only absorbed through injection. While some absorption through the mouth or through the skin can occur, the official route of administration is injection. It like the anabolics steroids is a very dangerous drug with serious side effects.

None of these materials were designed to be used in the athlete's game of Russian Roulette for enhanced performance.

Official dose information and route of administration on HGH and anabolic steroids can be found on the FDA website, http://www.fda.gov/.