Doctor admits steroids aren't harmful at all :-)

Steroids have been linked to the death of popular athletes, but a Wisconsin doctor claims steroids aren't harmful at all.

The Ryan Braun case has many people thinking about what athletes can, and cannot do to improve performance, and what is acceptable in the court of public opinion.

Olympian Jill Rookard, one of the most tested athletes in the world and from the skaters to the coaches, they want to do it clean.

Then enter Dr. Norman Fost. A University of Wisconsin professor, who says steroids are not evil.
"It's cheating, obviously if there's a rule against it, you use it, then it's cheating. You're breaking the rule. But first the question is, why is the rule there in the first place," said Dr. Fost

In fact, Dr. Fost claims very few studies have been done to say that steroids are bad and not one single test definitely links steroids to all the problems that people claim it does to the body.

"The so-called risks of steroids are wildly exaggerated, and often just made up," said Dr. Fost.

Yet Dr. Fost claims there are myths about steroid use and abuse, with former NFL star Lyle Alzado as the poster boy.

"Nowhere in any of the luminous press that still floats around, about Lyle Alzado. Nowhere is there a single sentence based on a single scientific fact or a single physician who thinks that there's any evidence at all that his brain tumor had anything to do with steroids," said Dr. Fost.

And while he's against steroids for boosting athletic performance, a Milwaukee area expert on bioethics agrees with Dr. Fost's argument. "Steroids are prescribed all the time, and used safely for medical reasons. And if we did it that way, it could be safe. I don't dispute that," said Ryan Spellecy. "In fact, as you look at the different arguments, most of them don't hold up."

This issue raised because of Ryan Braun's positive test that could be for an alleged banned substance, and how public perception frowns upon any item that can boost performance.

Dr. Fost calls himself the loneliest man in America, because of his stance. "I don't see any reason for treating them differently, than the literally hundreds of other drugs that athletes take to enhance their performance."

The doctor also says sports goes through improvements his equipment, so why not allow steroids, for increased performance?

Dr. Fost says he definitely would not recommend steroids for kids and younger, high school age athletes.

But he claims doctors could properly administer steroids to older athletes, rather than have an underground society that is unregulated.

Tulsa pill mill steroid doc gets probation.

A Nebraska doctor was sentenced Wednesday in Tulsa to probation in connection with a cross-country steroids conspiracy.

Dr. Raymond Heller of Omaha will spend the first eight months of his five-year probation under house arrest and will be expected to perform 100 hours of community service, U.S. Chief District Judge Claire Eagan ruled. She said Heller would face as much as 10 years in prison if his probation is revoked.

Heller also will be partially responsible for a $685,741 judgment along with Edward Franklin Ward, 52, of Harvest, Ala. The penalty represents the proceeds the court found that were generated by the conspiracy.

Heller, 50, pleaded guilty in June, admitting that from Oct. 1, 2008, until April 8, 2010, he participated in a plot to dispense androgenic anabolic steroids outside the usual course of professional medical practice.

He said in plea documents that he signed prescriptions forwarded to him by Ward, primarily for testosterone, to clients of Ward's "anti-aging" business without having conducted any physical examinations or even having any direct contact with the clients.

He said in his plea agreement that he was paid $50 for each prescription he signed.

Ward pleaded guilty June 10 to a conspiracy charge and is scheduled to be sentenced April 10.

Both men were charged in March by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tulsa.

The conspiracy reportedly involved the distribution of more than 40,000 doses to dozens of customers across the country, including in Oklahoma, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn McCormick.

McCormick said the steroids were distributed to people in various professions and mostly came from a pharmacy in Florida.

Heller's attorney, Keith Ward, who is not related to Edward Ward, stated in his sentencing memorandum that Heller's intention was to make "anti-aging drugs available to persons whose medical profiles were indicative of a hormone deficiency."

Eagan mentioned Heller's otherwise law-abiding life among the reasons for sentencing him to probation instead of prison.

Heller told the court he is not practicing medicine and said he will soon have a hearing before a Nebraska review board that will decide whether to revoke his license.

Doctor sentenced in steroids case.

"A federal judge in Mobile has sentenced a Colorado doctor to 21 months in prison for dispensing anabolic steroids outside his professional practice.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade sentenced Dr. Kelly Wade Tucker of Greeley, Colo., on Tuesday.

The case stemmed from an inquiry into a Mobile pharmacy that prosecutors contend has shipped steroids illegally to hundreds of people.

A plea agreement signed by Tucker states that a company founded by Brett Branch sent Tucker order forms for patients seeking steroids and human growth hormone.

Branch is scheduled to go on trial in January."

Link to original story from AL back in January of this year.

"Dr. Kelly Wade Tucker stood before a federal judge this afternoon and took his medicine -- a year and 9 months in prison for dispensing anabolic steroids outside the course of professional practice.

The Greeley, Colo., man became the first physician sentenced in a wide-ranging probe into a Mobile pharmacy that prosecutors contend has shipped steroids illegally to hundreds of people across the country."