Tune into ESPN for more details. Apparently a Orlando area lab was hit and they have documents that implicate MLB, NFL stars and other athlete,s in a new Balco like scandal involving illegal drugs.

This may be come a multiple forum thread but for now I ''ll put it here.
EDIT

ORLANDO, FL (AP) -- Federal and state narcotics agents raided a downtown Orlando pharmacy today as part of a steroid investigation. The Albany (New York) Times Union reports that Signature Pharmacy was raided as part of a New York state investigation into the sale of steroids and other performance enhancers over the Internet.


Court records show that investigators expect to arrest more than two dozen doctors, pharmacists and business owners. Law enforcement authorities told the newspaper the raid could expose a long list of sports figures, celebrities and others who have turned to Internet pharmacies for illegal drugs.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares says Signature Pharmacy last year did an estimated $6 million in business in New York. The Orlando pharmacy is owned and operated by Stan and Naomi Loomis, who are both licensed pharmacists.


http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/florida/news-article.aspx?storyid=76818

Current and former professional and collegiate athletes have reportedly been linked to an Orlando pharmacy that allegedly sold steroids and other performance enhancers over the Internet.

Federal and state narcotics agents raided the pharmacy Tuesday as part of a New York state investigation into the sale of the performance-enhancing drugs over the Internet.

The Albany, N.Y., Times Union and ABCNews.com are reporting that investigators in the year-old case uncovered evidence that testosterone and other performance-enhancing drugs may have been fraudulently prescribed over the Internet to current and former major league baseball and NFL players, college athletes, high school coaches, a former Mr. Olympia champion and another top contender in the bodybuilding competition.

Among the athletes reportedly on the customer list are former major league pitcher Jason Grimsley, according to the Times Union. The 15-year veteran was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball in June after his name was linked to a federal drug probe.

The Times Union reported investigators expected to arrest more than two dozen doctors, pharmacists and business owners on sealed indictments charging them with various felonies for unlawfully distributing steroids and other controlled substances, court records show.

Tuesday's raid of Signature Pharmacy, which did about $36 million in business last year, could expose a long list of sports figures, celebrities and others who have turned to Internet pharmacies for illegal drugs such as steroids, law enforcement authorities told the newspaper.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares said his office pursued the case, in part, because New York has some of the strictest prescription drug laws in the country. In addition, Signature Pharmacy last year did an estimated $6 million in business in New York, he said.

"We're arresting young men on street corners every day for selling drugs," he told the newspaper. "Signature did $30 million last year ... $250,000 in Albany County."

The Associated Press could not immediately reach Soares, who was in Orlando.

Customers usually have to pay high retail prices for their drugs, in part because many purchasers avoid seeking reimbursement from insurance carriers to avoid detection.

Mostly, they use cash, checks and credit cards to pay for the drugs.

"It's a complete perversion of the medical system," Christopher Baynes, an Albany County prosecutor assigned exclusively to the case for almost a year, told the Times Union.

Some companies have enlisted unethical doctors who blindly write prescriptions for as little as $25 each, according to court documents filed in Albany, Orlando and in a related federal case in Rhode Island.

The pharmacy is owned and operated by a Florida couple, Stan and Naomi Loomis, who are both licensed pharmacists. In 2002, the company reported revenue of about $500,000. Revenue topped $35 million last year, authorities told the newspaper. The pharmacy's phone was repeatedly busy Tuesday and a correct phone listing for the couple could not be found.

The pharmacy contains a small retail store that sells mostly bodybuilding supplements, a high-tech drug-manufacturing laboratory and executive offices on the second floor. A mix of federal and state agents spent Tuesday removing computers and records from Signature's offices, the paper reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2781674

Report: Sheffield won't cooperate in probe

FOXSports.com
Posted: 4 hours ago



You can count Detroit Tigers' slugger Gary Sheffield among the players who do not plan to cooperate with former Sen. George Mitchell's steroids investigation, according to a USA Today report.

Mitchell has urged players that have been linked to the BALCO drug scandal to submit to interviews and to turn over their medical records. But Sheffield said that he has been advised by the Major League Baseball Players Association not to be of help in the probe.


"The (players) association told us this is just a witch hunt," Sheffield told the newspaper. "They don't want us to talk to them. This is all about getting (Bonds).

"If this was legitimate and they did it the right way, it would be different," Sheffield said. "But this a witch hunt. They're just trying to collect a lot of stuff that doesn't make any sense and throw the (expletive) against the wall."

Mitchell, who was hired by commissioner Bud Selig just before the start of the 2006 season, warned team owners in January that a lack of cooperation with his investigation into steroid use will "significantly increase" the chances of government involvement.

Donald Fehr, the players association's executive director, reportedly said that he has offered advice to players. But ultimately it is the players' choice whether to cooperate.

"We have not been commenting on the investigation," Fehr said, "but we will advise players on what their rights are. They make their individual decisions."

Mitchell, the former Senate majority leader, sent a letter on Feb. 1 urging cooperation from Bonds and other players involved in the BALCO scandal, according to a story that appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle's web site on Sunday.

The letter was accompanied by medical waiver forms which, if signed, would effectively allow investigators to view Bonds' and other players' medical records.

The lawyer for Bonds, Michael Rains, reportedly told The Chronicle that the Giants' slugger wanted to help, but could not as long as he remains the focus of a possible perjury indictment.

Bonds enters the 2007 season needing 22 home runs to break Hank Aaron's career record of 755.

I quite simply refuse to believe that pro wrestlers would take steroids.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=afp-baseballusadopingwwe&prov=afp&type=lgns


Pro wrestlers latest linked to US internet steroid case
AFP
March 20, 2007

NEW YORK (AFP) - Eleven professional wrestlers have reportedly been linked in documents to the internet drug distribution ring that has produced charges against 20 people.

In a web site posting, Sports Illustrated magazine said investigators uncovered the names while sorting through information seized in raids last month on Florida firms allegedly prescribing steroids and human growth hormone over the internet.

Several Major League Baseball players, boxer Evander Holyfield and others have been linked to the scheme, most issuing strong denials in response to reports that surfaced in the wake of the raids.

Arizona doctor David Wilbirt, the magazine reported, was investigated from 2001 to 2005 for allegedly writing 3,879 prescriptions to patients over the internet, some from the pro wrestling ranks and better known by stage names.

Kurt Angle, a 1996 Olympic champion freestyle wrestler, allegedly received prescriptions for trenbolone and nandrolone in 2004 and 2005.

Wilbirt was billed for the steroid stanozolol and another drug sent to pro wrestling star Eddie Guerrero, who died in 2005 from what a coroner said was heart disease complicated by the use of anabolic steroids.

Oscar Gutierrez also allegedly received prescriptions for Wilbirt for steroids stanozolol and nandrolone while Shane Helms and Adam Copeland received human growth hormone, Sports Illustrated reported.

Wrestler Randy Orton, who allegedly received prescriptions for six different drugs from the same two doctors whose names are linked to prescriptions for Los Angeles Angels outfielder Gary Matthews.

Wilbirt, whose medical license has been suspended, told the magazine, "I don't remember half the stuff you are talking about" and added "they had done blood work and had laboratory work done and they had come to see me."

Investigators are expected to deliver names of athletes who appear in the documents they uncover to sports leagues as early as next week, although the main focus of the probe is eliminating distributors not chasing customers.

Big deal about the pro wrestlers. This is the media trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Since there's no reality in the WWE, then there can be no cheating.

If Orton wants to die at 50, then let him.

Though the REASON for Guerrero's death should be deterrent enough.

NOT PRO WRESTLERS!!! My entire impression of them has been shattered now. At least the old school guys like the Ultimate Warrior and Zeus were obviously clean.