American-born Israeli swimmer Max Jaben gets a one-year suspension for testing positive for boldenone.

The 23-year-old Jaben qualified to compete for Israel in the 200-meter freestyle at the Beijing Olympics but was taken out after his two urine samples showed traces of the steroid. Jaben denied the infraction, stating in his interview in April, after the announcement came of his failed dope test, that he didn’t know what boldenone was.

“If you test positive for something, many people aren’t interested in your truth. They’re only interested in the positive drug test,” he said.

“I don’t have a clue what [boldenone] is. If you would have asked me before this happened if I had ever heard of this thing, I would have told you no. I really can’t believe this is happening to me… I’ve never taken a steroid.”

Boldenone is an anabolic steroid developed for veterinary use and is commonly sold under the trade names of Equipoise, Ganabol and Ultragan.

Jaben could have faced the maximum penalty of two years, but the Israel Swimming Association decided to impose a one-year ban. The leniency, according to the ISA’s spokesperson, is because it was Jaben’s first offense and the swimmer was already disallowed to compete in the Olympics.

According to a report by Pro Football Talk, the New York Jets is likely to be fined with the second suspension on its roster.

Quarterback Erik Ainge received a four-game suspension for violating the league’s steroids and related substances policy. Ainge tested positive for a banned diuretic allegedly given to him by his girlfriend.

The first Jets player to commit doping infringement was running back Jesse Chatman, who also received the same penalty for a similar offense. Chatman tested positive for bumetanide, also a diuretic.

From PFT:

Under a new (and still somewhat confusing) league policy aimed at giving teams an incentive to encourage good behavior from their players, the New York Jets face a fine as a result of the four-game suspension imposed on quarterback Erik Ainge.

The new policy, which came to light in the wake of the Pacman Jones suspension, applies when a franchise has a second player suspended for off-field conduct in a given league year.  Because running back Jesse Chatman was suspended at the start of the season for violating the policy regarding anabolic steroids and related substances, Ainge’s suspension triggers the fine.

Diuretics are considered masking agents for anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by rapidly diluting urine through increased renal flow. Other commonly used masking agents are epitestosterone, probenecid, and alpha-reductase inhibitors. Probenecid, prescribed to treat gout and hyperuricemia, reduces the renal excretion of drugs such as anabolic steroids. Alpha-reductase inhibitors, on the other hand, are drugs used to treat benign prostate hyperplasia and alopecia. One of the most popular brands of alpha-reductase inhibitors is Proscar.

The question on everybody’s mind now is if the controversial diuretic bumetanide is also the culprit behind Erik Ainge’s suspension.

The Jets’ rookie quarterback is suspended for four games for violating the NFL’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances. No mention of the specific substance he tested positive for.

What the league stated was only: “Erik Ainge of the New York Jets has been suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL policy on steroids and related substances”.

“We respect the league’s decision and look forward to Erik’s return,” a Jets spokesman said.
Ainge will serve the suspension without pay. He is eligible to return to team’s roster Dec.15.

A spate of failed dope tests has rocked the league due to the allegedly spiked StarCaps weight-loss pills. Other players who tested positive for bumetanide were New Orleans Saints’ running backs Jamar Nesbit and Deuce McAllister, and defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant. Minnesota Vikings’ defensive tackles Kevin and Pat Williams also tested positive for the loop diuretic, as well as Atlanta Falcons’ Grady Jackson.

Bumetanide is considered to be a masking agent for anabolic steroids.

According to ProFootballTalk, Ainge did test positive for a diuretic but it’s not from StarCaps.

Chris Mortesen of ESPN reports that Jets quarterback Erik Ainge is the previously unknown eighth player who tested positive for a banned diuretic.

But, per Mort, Ainge didn’t take StarCaps.  Instead, he took a diuretic he obtained from his girlfriend.

So the confirmation of the four-game suspension doesn’t necessarily mean that the StarCappers will lose their appeals

From the AP:

Canadian bobsledder Serge Despres’ 20-month doping ban has been extended to two years.
The Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport said Wednesday the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) followed an appeal by Despres and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
CAS has yet to publish the decision on its Web site.

Despres tested positive for nandrolone during an out-of-competition test on Aug. 9, 2007 in Calgary. Despres and WADA both said the drug likely came from a tainted supplement.

It was reported that Despres’ sample yielded 0.9 nanogram of nandrolone.

It was in February when Despres announced to the press that he’s planning to appeal his case and stated, “I’m no cheater.”

Despres is from Cocagne, New Brunswick and has seen action at the 2006 Winter Olympics held in Turin.

The anabolic steroid nandrolone, more commonly known by the trade name Deca Durabolin, is used to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and some forms of anemias.

Athletes use nandrolone because it promotes nitrogen retention, which leads to ideal protein synthesis.

Minnesota Viking Kevin Williams and Pat Williams met with NFL officials Monday to appeal their four-game suspensions for testing positive for a masking agent.

New Orleans Saints trio – running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith – meanwhile are expected to likewise appeal on Tuesday for the similar offense.
All five players tested positive for bumetanide, a loop diuretic which is reportedly used to hide or mask use of anabolic steroids.

One of the most likely grounds for the players’ appeal cases was they accidentally ingested the prohibited compound when they took the StarCaps weight-loss pills. The manufacturers of said weight-loss pill state that their product contained all natural ingredients and does not list bumetanide as an ingredient. Presently, the company is suspending the sale of its products because of the controversy.

The manufacturers of StarCaps advertised their product as ‘all natural supplement’ and do not list bumetanide as one of its ingredients. However, a study conducted by a group of researchers at the University of Utah found out that the StarCaps pills indeed contained bumetanide. The group had two male and two female volunteers as subjects. Their findings were reported to The Journal of Analytical Toxicology in late 2007.

Aside from the players involved, sports observers are also awaiting what will be the league’s decision on the appeal cases. NFL is explicitly clear with this policy: “The use of so-called ‘blocking’ or ‘masking’ agents is prohibited by this policy. These include diuretics or water pills, which have been used in the past by some players to reach an assigned weight. Players are responsible for what is in their bodies.”

Something’s eerily not right here.

You got an advisor that is supposed to “advise” you on important things, especially if your health and well-being is at stake. And if he fails to “advise” you of such things, then he’s not doing his job and deserves to be kicked out.

This seems to be the case with Dr. John Lombardo, NFL’s advisor on anabolic steroids and related substances.

According to reports, Dr. Lombardo knew that the StarCaps supplement was spiked with bumetanide and yet chose not to advise the players of this fact. This came up during his testimony on the appeal hearing of three New Orleans Saints players.

Reportedly, the good doc got some sublime reason for doing this.

From the AP:

(Atty. David) Cornwell said in an e-mail that Lombardo testified that he learned in late 2006 that StarCaps contained Bumetanide, a diuretic considered a masking agent for steroids. Lombardo’s reasoning, according to Cornwell, is that “he feared that a specific warning regarding StarCaps could be used as a defense to alleged violations of the steroid policy that involved weight reduction products other than StarCaps.”

Cornwell, lawyer for the three Saints players Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant, says Lombardo’s testimony proves that his clients did not take steroids.

“Dr. Lombardo’s failure to disclose what he knew about StarCaps may have exposed NFL players to the significant health risks associated with the unintentional ingestion of diuretics.  If Dr. Lombardo had notified NFL players that StarCaps contained bumetanide, Will, Deuce and Charles would have never used the product to lose weight,” Cornwell adds.

Other players who tested positive for bumetanide include defensive tackle Grady Jackson of Atlanta and defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams of Minnesota.

Mohammad Asif’s doping case is scheduled to be heard on will be heard on November 29, according to his lawyer Shahid Karim.

The 25-year-old Pakistan fast bowler tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone in May during the Indian Premier League (IPL) competition. He was playing for the Delhi Daredevils. Subsequent test to his B-sample at a WADA-accredited lab in Switzerland yielded similar results.

The IPL anti-doping tribunal will decide what sanctions will be imposed on Asif. During the athlete’s initial appearance before said tribunal on Oct. 11, no decision has been taken.
Karim is hoping that the tribunal will make a decision soon.

“We have worked on legal and medical aspects of the case and hope that the tribunal will make a decision at the hearing on November 29,” Karim said.

“Evidence will be recorded during the hearing, and we will present testimony.

“It is our chance to fight the case – and we will give it our all, since this is a matter of my client’s international career.”

Asif could be banned for at least two years if found guilty of doping.

It looks like Jamar Nesbit is not alone in his (legal) battle against StarCaps, the manufacturer of weight loss system which allegedly contained the banned diuretic bumetanide.

Grady Jackson, Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle, is also suing the company for getting him a four-game ban from the NFL for violating the league’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

Jackson and Nesbit were among the several NFL athletes who tested positive for bumetanide, a known masking agent.

From the StarCaps.com is this statement: “We’ve received notice of a problem with an NFL player. We have referred the matter to our counsel and are taking all necessary steps to ensure that our customers receive product that is safe and effective. We have temporarily suspended shipping of StarCaps pending the results of our investigation.”

Meanwhile, a study conducted by the Center for Human Toxicology at the University of Utah has detected bumetanide in the StarCaps’ over-the-counter supplement.

The study concludes: “A single StarCaps capsule was administered to two male and two female volunteers, and their urine specimens were collected at discrete intervals (2, 4, 8, and 12 h) post administration. The specimens were analyzed by a high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry quadrupole (HPLC-MS) method, and bumetanide was detected in all specimens (4.6 to 351.3 ng/mL). Adjusting the bumetanide concentrations for creatinine content did little to normalize the excretion profiles. Bumetanide was also detected in the StarCaps capsules at concentrations approaching therapeutic doses. HPLC-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to confirm the presence of bumetanide in the urine samples and StarCaps capsules. The results showed that unregulated dietary supplements may put consumers at risk for unwitting consumption of prescription medications, and that it is possible for athletes to inadvertently test positive for bumetanide and face disciplinary actions.”

The so-called steroid era in baseball is timelined from the 1990s onwards and it precipitated passage of several legislations, tell-all books, congressional inquiries, implementation of doping controls within the sport, and, just recently, an off- Broadway play.

Written by Itamar Moses, “Back, Back, Back” has this synopsis: “Does greatness always come with a price? Can only someone with nothing to lose tell the whole truth? The play follows the turbulent careers of three very different teammates in baseball’s steroid era whose clubhouse secrets bring them under federal scrutiny.”

The play is described by Steve Kettman in his review of the preview performance as “a fictionalized inquiry into the strange saga of former Oakland A’s teammates Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. The daring and talented playwright tosses in a third teammate, the lesser known shortstop Walt Weiss, as a pretty good device to get some of his own points across.”

Kettmann is a former baseball beat writer and Jose Canseco’s ghostwriter for “Juiced”. Kettmann’s review appeared on the Daily News and has the following excerpts:

the pressing question of how the steroid era in baseball happened and what it meant. That is what art is for. That is what it does. I’m still trying to figure out if the gents did not know that there was a real Jose Canseco who gave the world a real book called “Juiced,” that shot to No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list and precipitated congressional hearings, all thanks mostly to Canseco’s naming of his former teammate, McGwire, as a steroid user and his vivid description in the book of jabbing McGwire in the ass with a steroid needle.

The notion of an imagined conversation between Canseco and McGwire about why one of them wrote the book that would kill the Hall of Fame chances of the other is, to any real sports fans or to anyone who has grappled with the baseball issues of recent years, deeply fascinating and irresistible. For sheer creative bravado and raw courage, I think we owe young Berkeley, Calif.-born playwright Itamar Moses an extended ovation. And I defy anyone to question the man’s ability to imagine his way to truth that others have missed.

“Back, Back, Back” will be shown at the Manhattan Theater Club at Stage 2 at NY City Center on Nov. 18, Tuesday.

Moses has written several plays including “Bach at Leipzig” and “Biathlon”, the latter is the story of two Olympic cyclists colliding on the track.

WADA is thankful that more than 100 countries have signed the UNESCO Convention on Doping in Sport. The number has now reached 102, according to AP report, and WADA believes it can generate more support to eradicate use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs among athletes.

“This is setting the standards very high. To the world governments that have shown much strength in fighting the scourge of doping, thank you from WADA,” said WADA’s David Howman said Wednesday. “We’ve reached 100, in fact we’re starting to get over 100.”

“We still have a long way to go,” he added, “(Doping) is too easy in many countries because there are not strong enough laws,” Howman said. “Let’s enhance the fight through legislation.”

More from AP:

UNESCO director-general Koichiro Matsuura called reaching 100 “an important step in the world fight against doping in sport” and said “the accent has been put on a dedication against doping, in both the scientific and the medical domain.”
Adopted in Paris on Oct. 19, 2005 by the UNESCO General Conference, the convention originally required 30 governments to sign up for it to work, but by July, 2006, only 14 countries had signed it.
“Let’s not forget on these hard fights to stop and smell the roses,” Howman said. “This is a chance to celebrate. It’s a significant world record. Let’s look forward to the next 90.”
Ratifying the convention helps a member nation prevent cross-border trafficking of sporting drugs, support a national drug-testing program and withhold funding from athletes caught cheating.
But WADA does not have the legal authority to force an increase in the amount of testing, and relies on governments to pressure their national anti-doping agencies to do so.
The United States became the 94th country to ratify the agreement on Aug. 25. The 100th was Paraguay on Oct. 13 and the most recent was Uganda on Oct. 27.

WADA was created by the International Olympic Committee to oversee the fight against drugs in sport.

At present, WADA receives budgetary support from different countries and also form the IOC. Initially, the IOC was the sole financial resource of the agency.

WADA is currently chaired by former Australian finance minister John Fahey and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

It looks like the Major League Baseball is not ready to adopt human growth hormone testing as a routine part of their organization’s drug testing program.

The Associated Press reports:

Gene Orza, the No. 2 official of the players’ union, said if there’s a scientifically valid test HGH, the membership would make a decision on what to do.

“My suspicion is they would adopt it, but they wouldn’t be railroaded into doing so,” he said. “Today’s conference suggests a lot of hard work is being done by a lot of qualified people, but there’s a long way to go. No one should have complete faith in a test that has never tested anyone positive.

“We don’t oppose blood testing. We say we’ll consider blood testing, which is different from urine testing. We’re saying we’ll consider blood testing when the time is right. Now is not that time. The players’ association is contributing now to the development and analysis of HGH testing. That’s part of this conference.”

The summit, entitled “Growth Hormone: Barriers to Implementation of hGH Testing in Sports”, was held November 10 at Beverly Hills in California. It was co-sponsored by MLB, UCLA, and the law firm Foley and Lardner. (And, if you asked us, we think the summit has been aptly titled because it created barriers instead of consensus regarding hGH testing implementation.)

Monday’s discussion centered on the efficacy of hGH as a performance-enhancing drug and the viability of its testing methods.

Richard Holt, professor at the University of Southampton in Britain, said: “Human Growth hormone is widely abused by athletes. There is little scientific evidence that growth hormone is performance-enhancing. I think the scientists are wrong and the athletes are right.”

Holt also said that in order to get the full benefit of hGH, athletes tend to take it with other compounds, such as anabolic steroids.

Don Catlin, director of the Anti-Doping Research at UCLA, was also doubtful of the effects of exogenous growth hormone on the athletes’ performance. He said: “There is no answer and I don’t think there will be unless somebody gets approval to do the study. It’s the same thing with anabolic steroids 25 or 30 years ago. We need the same study with HGH.”

Still, Catlin was of the opinion that there is a need for a valid method of testing for hGH.
Despite the “no-go” signal from the organization, Bob DuPuy, MLB’s president and chief operating officer, assured that they are taking steps to produce a more legitimate sport.

“The commissioner (Bud Selig) is committed to eradicating all performance-enhancing drugs, including HGH,” DuPuy said. “One of the things we’ve recognized from the start of this is HGH presents challenges. One of the purposes for this conference is to get everybody on the same page. All we can do is continue to fund things like this.

“I think we’re doing the best we can do. You’ve got most of the leading experts in the field here today, and that’s a good start.”

California physician Ramon Scruggs is once again in the news as he faces new steroid-related charges.

Scruggs has been linked with three Cleveland first responders who were accused of illegally obtaining anabolic steroids and submitting bogus claims to an insurance company.

Police Lt. Anthony Tuleta, 50, former firefighter Craig Romey, 38, and former EMS paramedic Angel Otero, 41, reportedly received prescriptions over the Internet between January 2003 and June 2007 from Scruggs.

The insurance company Medical Mutual in Ohio contacted the Drug Enforcement Agency because of the large volume of drugs that were prescribed for nonmedical use, according to Ryan Miday, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office.

Tuleta submitted nearly $95,000 in claims, Otero submitted $9,262 in claims, and Romey submitted $23,355 to cover the cost of their online purchases. Each faces multiple charges for possession and theft.

Scruggs, meanwhile, faces 13 charges for drug trafficking.

In June 2004, Scruggs was accused of prescribing anabolic steroids and ancillary drugs over the Internet for patients he did not personally examine. His clients included major league baseball players Troy Glaus and Scott Schoeneweis whom he had allegedly prescribed banned compounds to in 2003 and 2004. He settled his case with the State of California in 2006.

Early this year, however, California federal prosecutors re-opened Scruggs’ case to uncover names of other individuals who have received illegal prescriptions from the physician. Authorities are zeroing on MLB players.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the number of athletes who violated the organization’s anti-doping policy could increase to seven.

This is due to retroactive testing announced on October and is currently being carried out by the IOC. The re-testing is for the blood booster CERA (continuous erythropoiesis receptor activator), a variant of EPO.

“There were 39 cases before the Olympics, while there were eight cases during the Olympics and seven cases are still in the pipeline, so there could be 15 cases in total,” Rogge told Austrian news agency APA.

Rogge is all in to rid sports of doping violators; however, he is not in agreement that first-time infractions should be meted out with a lifetime ban.

“No court in the world would approve that. Any athlete would win a civil court,” he said.
“I think doping with anabolic steroids and EPO should be followed by a four-year ban.
“But first-time offenders can’t be banned for life. Criminals are also not shot the first time they are caught.”

The IOC conducted more than 5,000 drug tests during the Beijing Games, including nearly 1,000 blood screenings.

The International Olympic Committee thinks that in order to have a clean 2012 Olympics, Britain must first toughen up its legislation with regards to use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. However, Britain seems to be stalling in passing legislation to outlaw the possession, supply and distribution of PEDs.

Still, Arne Ljungqvist, the chairman of the IOC’s medical commission, is optimistic that the British government can accommodate their proposal for stricter anti-doping laws, under which athletes and suppliers can go to jail.

“I think legislation is very important that criminalizes certain offenses as detailed in the WADA code because it allows public authorities to intervene where we cannot,” said  Ljungqvist, who is also a board member at the Word Anti-Doping Agency.

“We as sports authorities have our limited possibilities regulated by our code. We can do testing but we cannot do searches.”

IOC says it will raise the topic later this month in London on the post-Beijing debrief to be participated in by Olympic host and bidding cities. The sports organization may lay out as a pre-requisite that bidding countries for future Olympic Games should have anti-doping laws.

Although Britain is expected to have a new independent anti-doping agency by next year, the host country is still resisting the pressure to criminalize doping.

We can’t seem to get enough of Jose Canseco, and here’s the latest update on the former MLB slugger.

Canseco, aka ‘The Godfather of Steroids’, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with the importation of performance-enhancing drug into the United States from Mexico.

Canseco was sentenced to 12 months of unsupervised probation after he entered his guilty plea.

Canseco told the magistrate, Judge Ruben Brooks, he was sorry that he did not declare to border agents that he had with him the HCG vials.

Canseco was detained by customs officials on October 9 at the San Ysidro border when mislabeled vials were found in his vehicle. Said vials reportedly contained human chorionic gonadotropin and Canseco was unable to present prescription to justify the presence of the compound in his vehicle. Canseco was with a woman and the woman’s ‘minor’ daughter.

It was reported that the Cuban-born outfielder tried to smuggle in HCG, a fertility drug, to normalize his hormonal level. He was a self-confessed steroid user, and he blames his use of these controlled compounds as the cause of his hormonal levels being depressed.

And with his latest probation predicament, we’re sure it’s not only his hormonal level that feels depressed now.

A New Hampshire teen was arrested by police three times in a period of just over three months.

Eighteen-year-old Jeremy Rosario, resident of Salmon Street, New Market, was arrested for the first time on July 24, 2008. He was apprehended on an arrest warrant issued by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Drug Task Force and he was charged with sales of a controlled drug in both Rockingham and Strafford County.

Police reports indicated that at the time of his arrest, Rosario was in possession of anabolic steroids, marijuana, and a quantity of cash.

On Oct. 12, Newmarket Police arrested Rosario for driving while intoxicated and transportation of alcoholic beverages by a minor. He was charged in the Exeter District Court.

His third arrest happened on Oct. 31 for facilitating a drug or underage alcohol house party, unlawful possession of alcohol and possession of a controlled drug.

The local police department executed a search warrant at Rosario’s residence and they were able to seize quantities of marijuana, alcohol and a loaded .357 handgun. Along with Rosario, 17 other individuals were put under arrest. The ages of the individuals arrested or taken into custody ranged from 15 to 19 years of age.

Chris Leben, one of the most popular mixed martial artists, is suspended for testing positive for an anabolic steroid.

According to MMAjunkie.com, Leben’s organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championships, has suspended him for nine months and fined him a third of his fight payroll.

The UFC middleweight failed the test after he headlined the UFC 89 on Oct. 18 that took place in Birmingham, England. In said event, Leben sustained a defeat via unanimous decision to England’s Michael Bisping.

Leben acknowledges his wrongdoing.

“I’ve really done everything I can to turn my life around, and this is a huge setback for me, but it is something I will have to deal with,” Leben says. “During my time off from fighting, I want to speak to kids about the dangers of using performance enhancing agents and let them know it just doesn’t get you ahead in life. Of course this is a hard hit for me monetarily, but more so this is embarrassing for me and for all of my fans. I apologize to the UFC and everyone who supported me in my fight in England. I hope to work through this and get back to fighting soon.”

UFC president Dana White expresses his disappointment over Leben’s failed dope test.

“I am obviously disappointed with Chris, who has made great strides getting his life back on track,” White says. “To his credit, he has taken responsibility for his actions and is accepting the punishment that has been handed down. But as always, the UFC puts the safety of its athletes first and foremost, and we won’t tolerate anyone using performance enhancing drugs in our organization.”

Leben tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, commonly marketed as Winstrol. Stanozolol is also the culprit in failed tests of other prominent MMA fighters, including former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Slyvia, Kimo Leopoldo, and Phil Baroni.

Leben is expected to return to the MMA scene in July 2009.

Former Ontario chief justice Charles Dubin died last October 27 at the age of 87.

Dubin, best known for his heading of the inquiry of the Ben Johnson’s steroid case, was laid to rest at the Holy Blossom Temple with about 300 mourners paying their last respects.

Among the service attendees were the controversial sprinter Johnson and his coach Charlie Francis. Johnson and Francis, who figured prominently at Dubin Inquiry in 1989, expressed their appreciation of the former justice’s fairness.

“He gave me a fair shake,” Johnson said after the service.

“I don’t have no hard feelings towards him. He’s a great man in his environment, the law, and I respect that.”

“He did his best to bring everything out and give a chance to say how things were,” Francis said. “He was a great man.”

After conducting the doping inquiry in 1989, Dubin endorsed significant anti-doping measures. He also voiced out his criticisms “against coaches, doctors, Athletics Canada, the Olympic movement and the governing body of track and field for the events that led to Johnson’s disgrace”, according to Canadian Press.

The Johnson doping case is considered to be the turning point in the history of modern sports – it has opened the eyes of the sports officials, as well as that of the public, about the practice of doping among athletes.

Johnson won the gold in the 100m final in Seoul in 1988 Olympics, beating his rival American Carl Lewis. Three days after his victory, the Canadian sprinter was stripped of his gold medal when his urine sample showed traces of the anabolic steroid stanozolol (Winstrol).

Johnson had vehemently denied he had used any prohibited drug until his testimony before the Dubin Inquiry in I989. Testifying before the inquiry, Johnson admitted using steroids. Francis, his coach, also testified that Jonson had been taking steroids since 1981.

Dubin was born in Hamilton in 1921 and when he was 29-years-old he was made Queen’s Counsel – then the youngest person in the Commonwealth to receive the honor.

He served as Ontario’s associate chief justice in 1987 and chief justice in 1990 until 1996.
In 1997, he was named an officer of the Order of Canada for his “profound and lasting effect upon the Canadian judiciary.”

Nikki Haskell’s famous line reads: “If I can’t do it in high heels, I’m not interested”.

The question is will she be wearing high heels when she faces possibly multiple lawsuits NFL players might heap on her dainty feet because definitely she should be interested with the suits.

New Orleans Saints’ offensive lineman Jamar Nesbit filed a lawsuit Tuesday in a New Jersey federal district court against StarCaps, a company founded by Haskell.

Nesbit’s camp alleged that the product was ‘improperly stacked with a diuretic’, a compound which is included in the NFL’s list of prohibited substance. Said diuretic is bumetanide prescribed for individuals suffering from edema associated with congestive heart failure, hepatic and renal disease, including the nephrotic syndrome.

According to Nesbit’s lawyer Brian Malloy, the Saints player is seeking $235,000 to recoup his salary lost due his four-game suspension in September when he tested positive for said diuretic. Nesbit has just returned to his team’s active roster late last month from his suspension.

Diuretics are prohibited by most major sports organizations because they are often used to facilitate weight loss via their ability to enhance rapid water loss through urine excretion. They are also utilized as masking agents, i.e. they are used to purposely block or hide the presence of illicit compounds in the system. They do this by rapidly diluting urine by increasing renal flow. The result is lowered levels of the banned substance being excreted from the body.

StarCaps has suspended the sale of its weight loss product which has been alleged to contain bumetanide. Bumetanide is a loop diuretic and is included in the NFL’s list of prohibited compounds.

The company issued this emailed statement: “We’ve received notice of the problem with the NFL. We have referred the matter to our counsels and are taking all necessary steps to ensure that our customers receive product that is safe and effective. We have temporarily suspended shipping pending the result of our investigation.”

The company faces a lawsuit from Saints’ player Jamar Nesbit. Nesbit was slapped with a four-game suspension in September for violating the NFL’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances. According to reports, the Saints’s offensive lineman tested positive for bumetanide and he blamed the StarCaps product for the positive test.

Nesbit’s attorney, Brian Malloy, said the product was tainted with the said diuretic. Nesbit is seeking $235,000 in lost salary from his suspension and additional damages to compensate for harm done to his reputation and for the alleged intentional, undisclosed spiking of the product with bumetanide.

StarCaps was founded by socialite and diet guru Nikki Haskell. The StarCaps dietary supplement is advertised as an ‘all-natural dietary supplement’ containing ‘a rare blend of papaya and garlic’.

Several players, prominently from the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings, are currently under investigation for testing positive for bumetanide. Among the players are Vikings Pat Williams and Kevin Williams and Saints running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant.

Olympic female hurdler Fani Halkia faces a maximum of two years in prison as she has been charged with steroid use on October 31.

Halkia, who won the gold at the 400-meter hurdles in 2004 Olympics in Athens, was expelled from the Beijing Olympics when she tested positive for the anabolic steroid methyltrienolone, also known as M3.

Halkia’s coach, George Panagiotopoulos, was also charged by Greek prosecutor Costas Simitzoglou. Panagiotopoulos faces up to three years in prison and a fine of $26,070.

In late September, Halkia appeared before the prosecutor and denied any wrongdoing. In her subsequent written testimony, the 29-year-old Olympic champion blamed her failed doping test on a “malicious act” by unnamed individuals.

Greek authorities have been embarrassed by the series of doping violations committed by their athletes. The head of the country’s Olympic committee called it an ‘organized effort’.

Aside from Halkia, fourteen other Greek athletes tested positive for M3 including the 11 members of the country’s weightlifting team.  Runners Tassos Gousis and Dimitris Regas, also among the athletes who reportedly used the said steroid, have been already penalized by the Greek athletics federation with a two-year ban each.

Illegal use of toxic substances, such as anabolic steroids, is considered a misdemeanor under the Greek law.

Marion Jones appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and talked about her journey with anabolic steroids.

It was the Olympic sprint athlete’s first interview since her release from a federal prison in Texas a month ago. Jones had served a six-month sentence for lying about steroid use and her role in a check-fraud scam.

The 33-year-old had consistently denied her use of steroids until her testimony in a federal court last year when she admitted that she had used the designer steroid known as ‘The Clear’ from September 2000 to July 2001. She had been stripped of all the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 – 3 golds, 2 bronzes – after her admission.

“I made the decision I was going to lie and try to cover it up,” Marion Jones told the Queen of Talk Show about lying to prosecutors when they showed her a vial of “The Clear”, a designer steroid. “I knew that all of my performances would be questioned.”

“The Clear” was the design of the now defunct Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative of the anabolic steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, also known as THG. BALCO was reportedly the source of performance-enhancing drugs of many elite athletes including Jones.

Jones’ teammates in the relay teams were also stripped of their medals, and she apologized to her teammates for doing what she did.

“When I stepped on that track, I thought everybody was drug-free, including myself,” Jones said. “I apologize for having to put everybody through all of this.

“I’m trying to move on. I hope that everybody else can move on, too.”

Jones’ U.S. teammates in the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays were also disqualified by the International Olympic Committee due to Jones’ doping violation and have filed an appeal in the Court of Sports Arbitration.

Jones said to Oprah that she will never run again and instead wants to inspire young people to do things the right way.

“I don’t have athletics anymore to hide behind,” Jones said. “In the past, it was Marion Jones, the athlete. … I don’t have that cover anymore. I have really had to find out who I am and why I make certain choices.”

In the end, There were rumors Marion Jones was going to buy steroids directly from BALCO, but decided to buy steroids thru her Olympic coach.  This is what caused her downfall in the Olympic world.  She started a cycle of steroid abuse, backed by her great Olympic performances.