Detectives investigating a body building drug supply racket have arrested a 26-year-old Metropolitan police constable.

The police man was held after a series of early morning raids in Swansea, South Wales.

From Guardian.co.uk:

A Metropolitan police spokesman said the men are believed to be linked to a network supplying steroids to hundreds of people across South Wales.

He said: "Officers are expected to meet the highest standards of honesty and integrity. The Met is determined that those who fail to meet these standards will be dealt with swiftly and robustly."

The operation was carried out by members of Scotland Yard's directorate of professional standards with officers from South Wales police's anti-corruption team.

Officers suspect the men were supplying anabolic steroids in pill and injectable forms to bodybuilders and weight trainers.

Some sportsmen claim steroids help them train harder, build muscle mass and recover from exercise more quickly.

Steroids are categorised as class C drugs and can only be sold by pharmacists with a doctor's prescription.

The police constable was arrested on suspicion of supplying controlled class C drugs following an investigation by anti-corruption officers.

Montgomery accused of using cocktail of banned drugs

Tim Montgomery, the world 100 meters record holder, has been accused by the USADA for using a cocktail of banned drugs, including human growth hormones and the blood-boosting agent EPO.

Montgomery's claimed that her client has been made the victim of a witch-hunt after a "bitter" falling-out with Conte and is innocent.

From Guardian.co.uk:

Usada also said in the letter - published in the Los Angeles Times - that it "anticipates testimony" from an unnamed source regarding Montgomery's "admitted use of the 'clear'", allegedly the code name for the designer anabolic steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) manufactured by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in San Francisco.

Usada alleges that apart from the THG, HGH and EPO (erythropoietin) Montgomery also used several other anabolic steroids.

They also claim to have discovered a series of Montgomery's urine and blood test results that are consistent with the use of banned substances, calendars detailing a drug regime, receipts relating to the purchase of illegal drugs and correspondence referring to Montgomery by Victor Conte, the Balco founder and owner. Montgomery disputes this evidence. Montgomery has always denied taking banned drugs.

Montgomery had until last Friday to respond to Usada's letter and a review board will meet this week to decide whether to charge him along with three other top US sprinters: Chryste Gaines, Michelle Collins and Alvin Harrison. If guilty they face at least a two-year suspension.

The USADA made the allegations in a nine-page letter sent to Montgomery setting out allegations that he was involved in doping as long ago as 2000, two years before he set the record.

New allegations against trainer make Armstrong defensive

After controversial Italian coach Michele Ferrari was accused of being involved in wrongdoings, accusations against cycling champion Lance Armstrong gained momentum.

Armstrong recently said that Ferrari was "a clean man . . . an honest man . . . an innocent man". The Italian magazine, GQ, however printed extracts from statements provided to police by Italian rider Filippo Simeoni, who said Ferrari advised him to use the red blood cell booster erythropoietin (EPO), testosterone and human growth hormone to improve his performance.

From Guardian.co.uk:

An inquiry led by the magistrate Pierguido Soprani is investigating Ferrari on charges of providing or recommending performance-enhancing drugs to cyclists. Key evidence lies in diaries kept by Simeoni in which he recorded the substances he took between 1992 and 1999, when he was questioned by Italian police.

Simeoni told Soprani he worked with Ferrari between October 1996 and July 1997 and alleges Ferrari advised him how to dodge the tests for blood thickness, intended to restrict the use of EPO.

In one of his diaries Simeoni wrote: "Doctor Ferrari advised me to use two alternatives: Hemagel [a blood thinning agent] on the morning of the control, albumin [an element contained in white blood cells] on the evening before a possible control."

Simeoni, who won four races last year, said Ferrari had not warned him about possible side-effects and that he stopped working with him because he felt Ferrari was giving preferential treatment to others. "Ferrari did not treat me with the same efficiency he showed to other athletes," he said.

"It's a story that is three years old. Anyone can print old articles," Armstrong remarked when he was asked to reply in context to new allegations about the trainer he consults on diet, altitude training and the use of a depleted oxygen tent.

Roflumilast effective in reducing COPD exacerbation rate

Roflumilast is effective when it comes to enhancing lung function and preventing exacerbations in patients with COPD with chronic bronchitis and severe airflow obstruction, as per a large 12-month randomized trial.

Results of the 1,568-patient, double-blind, placebo-controlled study known as the M2-125 trial suggest that the drug is an important potential advance in the treatment of a subset of patients with COPD, Dr. Andrew McIvor said at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians.

From Internalmedicinenews.com:

Participants in the eight-nation M2-125 trial had to have at least one documented moderate or severe COPD exacerbation during the year prior to enrollment. They were randomized to roflumilast 500 mcg once daily or placebo for 1 year, on top of background long-acting beta2-agonist or short-acting anticholinergic therapy at stable doses, along with short-acting beta2-agonists as needed. Long-acting anticholinergics and inhaled corticosteroids were not permitted.
The rate of moderate to severe COPD exacerbations requiring systemic steroids and/or treatment in a hospital—one of two co-primary study end points—was 1.21 cases per patient per year in the roflumilast group and 1.49 in controls, for a highly significant 18.5% relative risk reduction.
The other primary end point was improvement in lung function as reflected in mean change from baseline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) prior to administration of a bronchodilator.
Again, roflumilast showed a highly significant advantage, with a 33-mL increase in FEV1 as compared to a 25-mL decrease with placebo over the course of 12 months.

Roflumilast (Daxas) is an investigational selective phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor that targets inflammation that is a hallmark of the disease when taken daily in an oral form, as per Dr. McIvor of St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton (Ont.).

Legal cases linked to New Jersey Police

Police officers and corrections officers, who obtained anabolic steroids from Jersey City physician Joseph Colao, have been named in at least five lawsuits related to alleged brutality or violations of civil rights.

Other officers, accused of getting steroids from the doctor, were fired, suspended or arrested for allegedly engaging in bad conduct on or off the job.

From NJ.com:

In August 2007, Jersey City resident Mathias Bolton called police to report a possible break-in at his apartment building. Bolton, 37, claims the first officer on the scene, Victor Vargas, mistook him for a burglar and, in a rage fueled by steroids, repeatedly punched him, threw him against the wall, dragged him from the building’s vestibule and pushed him down a flight of stairs to the sidewalk.

Other officers, among them Michael Stise, continued to beat Bolton as he lay on the ground, the suit states. The officers charged Bolton with resisting arrest and aggravated assault on a police officer. The counts were later dropped.

Court documents filed in the case show Vargas, 33, and Stise, 30, were taking anabolic steroids and human growth hormone prescribed by Colao. The officers deny in legal papers doing anything wrong, saying they identified themselves and repeatedly ordered Bolton to stop resisting.

“Given the broad hostility to athletes who abuse steroids — Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Manny (Ramirez) are widely hated — a jury that hears steroid evidence could readily misfire,” the lawyers of Vargas and Stise wrote.

The former Great Britain hooker, Terry Newton, had traces of anabolic steroids, cocaine, and amphetamines in his system when he killed himself in September.

Newton became the first professional sportsman to test positive for human growth hormone in February and was serving a suspension of two years when he took his life at the age of 31.

From Guardian.co.uk:

"We have a picture where steroid abuse may well have led on to behavioural changes. We can say that is virtually certain. Subsequently they have rendered Mr Newton, on the balance of probabilities, unable to form an appropriate judgment as to the nature and quality of his actions."
Newton's wife Stacey attended the hearing at Bolton coroner's court with other close family members. She was too upset to give evidence. Newton was discovered by police in the loft of his home in Orrell, Wigan, on 26 September, after Stacey had told a friend she was concerned for his safety. He had left notes around the house expressing a desire to end his life.
Toxicology reports showed he had taken the steroid nandrolone within the week of his death and traces of cocaine and amphetamine were in his urine, along with alcohol and anti-depressants. Human growth hormone cannot be tested for in post-mortem samples. None of the banned drugs were a direct factor in the cause of death but all could have lowered a person's mood, the inquest was told.

Some experts are of the view that Newton's death could have delivered a macabre warning to others about the dangers of taking performance enhancing drugs.

McGwire's name added to cheat list of MLB

Mark McGwire, the former St Louis Cardinals slugger, has now decided to come clean after years of rumor that he used steroids.

The one-time "home-run king" recently became the latest confessed steroid users of baseball and remarked, "It was absolutely the most ridiculously stupid thing I've ever done in my life. I regret it totally”.

From Guardian.co.uk:

McGwire's confession was carefully filtered out through a press release and a series of brief interviews, but the centrepiece was an one-hour live, sit-down with Bob Costas of the Major League Baseball network, which was intended to address every conceivable question raised by the revelation that the man who broke the home-run record in 1998, and who in doing so was credited with reviving baseball's image after a damaging players' strike earlier in the decade, was in fact a cheat.
Costas is many things but he is certainly no mug and he did a brilliant job in getting McGwire to tell his (obviously rehearsed) story, as well as exposing the contradictions therein.
The reviews have landed and they can be best described as mixed. Those inclined to feel sympathetic towards the slugger credit him with offering a more "complete" and "believable" confession than the likes of Rodriguez, who tried to pass off his drug use as actions of a stupid youth, or Giambi, who apologised but declined to say what he was apologising for.

It appears that baseball players who had became drug cheats to gain recognition are now making attempts to rewrite a history that they had already rewritten before with mendacious intent by their use of performance enhancing drugs.

Australian surf lifesaving athlete banned

A surf lifesaving athlete from Australia, Peter Atkins, has been handed over a ban from sport for a period of two years after making using a banned substance.

Atkins was banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after he tested positive for the steroid stanozolol in an in-competition test in March.

From Dailytelegraph.com.au:

AUSTRALIAN surf lifesaving athlete Peter Atkins has been banned from the sport for two years for using a banned substance.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) imposed the sanction on the Currumbin Barbarians surf boat crew member after he tested positive for the steroid stanozolol in an in-competition test in March.

Currumbin won the men's open boat event at the 2009 Australian Surf Life Saving championships but Atkins will forfeit any medals, points and prizes awarded to him.

Stanozolol is a synthetic anabolic steroid derived from testosterone and a prohibited substance under the World Anti-Doping Code. Atkins will be ineligible to compete until May 4, 2011. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority has welcomed the decision.

The Currumbin Barbarians surf boat crew member will be ineligible to compete until May 4, 2011.

Miami Heat forward feels the heat of NBA

Don MacLean, the Miami Heat forward, has become the first NBA player to be suspended for steroid use.

MacLean was suspended for a period of five games without pay after violating the policy on using steroids of the NBA and Players' Association.

From News.bbc.co.uk:

Neither the Heat, the NBA nor the Players Association is permitted to disclose information regarding the testing or treatment of a player.
MacLean was signed by the Heat as a free agent after stints with Washington (1992-95), Denver (1995-96), Philadelphia (1996-97), New Jersey (1997-98), Seattle (1998-99) and Phoenix (1999-2000).
He has played just 42 games over the past three seasons due to injuries, and is averaging 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds this season.
The NBA's Most Improved Player for the 1993-94 season, he has a career average of 11.1 points and 3.8 rebounds.

The NBA player was scheduled to miss at least a month after undergoing surgery on his right foot on 15 November.

Prostate carcinoma patients can get relief with combo

A combination of docetaxel and estramustine, the cancer drugs, can prove to be an effective option for offering relief to patients afflicted with prostate carcinoma (cancer) and not making expected responds to hormone therapy and whose cancer has spread to other body parts.

Derek Raghavan, M.D., director of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, and co-author of the study, said that patients administered with docetaxel and prednisone had a better outcome throughout the survival curve.

From News-medical.net:

The study found that patients who received a combination of docetaxel and estramustine experienced an improvement in their survival rate vs. those treated with mitoxantrone, another cancer drug, and prednisone, a type of steroid.
“This work will be important in shaping future drug strategies in treating patients with advanced, hormone-resistant prostate cancer, as no prior study has shown an improvement in their median or overall survival,” said Derek Raghavan, M.D., director of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, and co-author of the study. Dr. Raghavan is one of the leaders of the Genitourinary Committee of the Southwest Oncology Group, the team that conducted the study. The physicians at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center are members of this cooperative cancer research group.

This finding was disclosed by a study published in an issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.