Nine more Indian sportsmen caught doping.

Nine more kabaddi players were today caught for using banned steroids, taking the total number of dope flunked players who were tested early this month during the selection trials of the World Cup to 19.

Yesterday, the National Anti-Doping Agency announced that 10 out of 21 kabbadi players whose test results were available have returned positive for banned substances. Today, the results of the remaining 29 urine samples were available and nine were found to have contained banned steroids.

Altogether, 50 kabaddi players were tested during the selection trials in Ludhiana early this month.

“Selection Trial (Men) of 2nd World Cup Kabaddi, Punjab 2011 was held at Ludhiana on 5th October 2011 and the Dope Control Programme was organised by NADA as per the request of Punjab Government. A total of 51 urine samples were collected and deposited in the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) on the 6th October 2011,” NADA Director General Rahul Bhatnagar said in a release.

“Out of Laboratory analytical reports in respect of another 29 samples received from NDTL today, 09 samples have been found positive, making the total of positive cases to 19 out of 50 samples. The prohibited substances found in these 09 cases are stanozolol, methendinone, Trenbolone, Drostanolone nandrolone, phentermine(stimulant),” he said.

Three more Indian athletes caught doping.

Doping menace continued unabated in Indian athletics with three more track and field competitors returning positive for steroids in the tests conducted during the National Open Championships held in Kolkata last month. National Anti-Doping Agency conducted tests on 93 urine samples during
the September 10-13 Championships, out of which three returned positive for multiple substances, including banned steroids and stimulant methylhexaneamine.

"A total of 93 urine samples of athletes of track and field events were collected during 51st National Open Athletics Championships at Kolkata during September 10-13. Out of the reports of 91 samples received so far from National Dope Testing Laboratory, three samples were found positive and the first notices had been issued," NADA Director General Rahul Bhatnagar said in a release.

"In each of the case, multiple substances were found and they include methandienone, stanozolol, methyltesterone, phentermine, methylhexaneamine," the release added.

Today's dope flunk came three months after eight athletes, including double Asian Games gold-medallist Ashwini Akkunji, returned positive for banned steroids in one of the worst doping scandals that had hit the country.

Akkunji's Asian Games 4X400m gold-winning relay quartet team-mates members Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose, three other top quartermilers Jauna Murmu, Priyanka Panwar and Tiana Mary Thomas, shot putter Sonia and long jumper Hari Krishan Muralidharan also tested positive for banned steroids.

Sonia has been handed two year ban by the NADA Disciplinary Panel, while the cases of the six quartermilers and Muralidharan are going on.

Interestingly, stimulant methylhexaneamine returned to haunt Indian sport after 13 sportspersons from various disciplines were caught for using the substance just before last year's Commonwealth Games here.

India's doping shame leads to crackdown on pharmacys selling steroids.

After TIMES NOW expose the doping scandal, Punjab Government is expected to crack the whip on guilty chemists. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday (July 6) said the licences of guilty chemists will be cancelled and raids will be conducted to crackdown on other chemists.

Speaking to reporters about the issue Badal today said, "Action will be taken against the chemists who are selling banned drugs without prescription. A criminal case will be filed against such chemists."

The Deputy Chief Minister's reacting comes a day after a TIMES NOW expose on how drugs are available to athletes near a Patiala training centre over the counter.

Even a week after the biggest doping scandal has broken, no one is raising questions about these "strategically-situated" stores, indicating that officialdom doesn't really believe that dope and sports don't mix.

In Patiala , schedule H steroid Stanolozol was still being openly sold for as cheap as Rs 30 for a strip of 10 capsules. All you have to do is ask for it by its brand name, Neurabol. Schedule H drugs, by law, can't be bought without a prescription.

"We have been selling it for many years. There has never been a complaint," assures the salesman at Preet Medical Store, a chemist near Sewa Singh Thikriwala Statue, the commercial district next door to NIS.

He goes on to say, "Ek baar use kar ke dekho... aap baar baar aaoge hamare paas (use it once, you'll come to us again and again)."

Mandeep Kaur, who tested positive, blamed contaminated food supplements from these chemists.

But while Mandeep merely mentioned food supplements, what was discovered was the sheer ease with which steroids could be obtained. A Nandrolone-Decanoate injection, under the brand name of Deca Durabolin (1 ml), is available for Rs 177 along with a valid bill.

Once he gets the drift, the chemist instead of asking for a prescription or even a casual informal query, proudly spreads out the fare, displaying performance-enhancing drugs one after the other on his counter. Each new exhibit offers better results than the previous one.

You don't need a prescription, nor are eyebrows raised when you purchase banned steroids over the counter right at the doorstep of India's premier sports training institute. And if you ask for a receipt, you'll get it.

Even a week after the biggest doping scandal has broken, no one is raising questions about these "strategically-situated" stores, indicating that officialdom doesn't really believe that dope and sports don't mix.

When TOI reached Patiala on Tuesday, schedule H steroid Stanolozol was still being openly sold for as cheap as Rs 30 for a strip of 10 capsules. All you have to do is ask for it by its brand name, Neurabol. Schedule H drugs, by law, can't be bought without a prescription.

"We have been selling it for many years. There has never been a complaint," assures the salesman at Preet Medical Store, a chemist near Sewa Singh Thikriwala Statue, the commercial district next door to NIS.

He goes on to say, "Ek baar use kar ke dekho... aap baar baar aaoge hamare paas (use it once, you'll come to us again and again)."

Mandeep Kaur, who tested positive, blamed contaminated food supplements from these chemists.

But while Mandeep merely mentioned food supplements, what TOI discovered was the sheer ease with which steroids could be obtained. A Nandrolone-Decanoate injection, under the brand name of Deca Durabolin (1 ml), is available for Rs 177 along with a valid bill.

Once he gets the drift, the chemist instead of asking for a prescription or even a casual informal query, proudly spreads out the fare, displaying performance-enhancing drugs one after the other on his counter. Each new exhibit offers better results than the previous one.

When asked for Menabol (containing Stanozolol), Jai Maa Medicos, plying their trade on Lower Mall Patiala, even suggests an alternative - Neurabol for better results. "Athletes and sportspersons prefer Neurabol over Menabol. Though they are one and the same thing, Neurabol is the preferred drug," he says, seemingly oblivious to the storm kicked up by doping.

In Patiala's upmarket area near Rajindra Hospital, some chemists were more circumspect when TOI came looking to purchase over-the-counter steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.

But in and around NIS, it is clear an athlete on the lookout for his or her dope fix doesn't have to cross too many hurdles.

"A dose of death" anti-steroid propaganda from India.

Bodybuilders may be driven to taking steroids because of their profession. But now, many general gym-goers are beginning to find the shortcut to a muscular body, irresistible. What they don't realise is that in the long run, "brittle bones, high blood pressure and a moon-face are some of the more prominent side-effects," says general physician Arun Kumar.

"The damage to the liver and kidney are well known. If not administered correctly, steroids can be life-threatening as well," says Kumar. Executive in a multinational company, Prem Gupta, 23, found this out the hard way.

Two years ago, Prem joined a gym in Andheri where the trainer recommended he take 'specific doses' of the steroids Sustanon and Deca (the latter is now banned). He had to inject them into his system every alternate day for two months. "I knew they were steroids, but stupid and ambitious as I was, I went ahead because I wanted quick results," says Gupta. Prem gained 15kg of muscle weight in two months, which brought about a drastic change in his physical appearance -- and confidence. "People started reacting positively to my new physique," he says. "I started feeling good about that."

Shortly after, Gupta developed a high fever that he assumed would go away in a day or two. But it kept returning. After having fever for over a month, and losing a lot of his strength, Prem admitted to the doctor treating him that he had consumed steroids.

"Thankfully my liver wasn't damaged because I had maintained a good diet even when taking steroids," he says. "But my immunity had taken a battering, and it took a long time to return to good health. It was scary." It's been two years since the ordeal, and Prem is back at the gym. But he's staying away from steroids, even if it means having a less muscular body.

Young Indian bodybuilder dies due to ‘mild malaria’ doctors blame his steroid use.

Mahesh Khokarale, a 25-year-old instructor with Gold’s Gym, had everything going for him. The fitness freak and bodybuilder had won the Mumbai Shree title last year and was training for the Bharat Shree competition scheduled for February 2010. After that, he was planning to get married in May. But, all the dreams vaporised on Saturday morning when Mahesh passed away due to ‘mild malaria’.

Doctors say it was not the malaria that killed him, but use of steroids which had weakened his liver so much that when illness struck, his body could not fight back.

Mahesh was an instructor with the Worli branch of Gold’s Gym. A resident of Ramdoot building near Currey Road Railway Station, he had mild fever on October 31. “He took some medicine before going to work. All of us thought it was a regular fever and there was nothing to worry about,” said Sukhdev Khokarale, Mahesh’s elder brother.

On Sunday, when the fever persisted, Mahesh decided to rest at home. On Monday, accompanied by his fiancé, Mahesh went to KEM Hospital for a blood test and specialised treatment. But, at the hospital, he collapsed and went into coma. He was taken to the emergency ward and then shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The blood test report, which came on Tuesday, revealed that he was suffering from mild malaria. “A patient does not go into coma and neither does the liver fail in case of mild malaria. His liver was damaged even before the malaria struck,” said a doctor at KEM.

Doctors, however, admitted that they had no record of Mahesh’s medical history, as he was admitted only after he collapsed. “We suspect he was on steroids since he was a fitness trainer and also a body builder. Secondly, liver damage leading to death in case of mild malaria is unheard of. His family too said that we must treat him assuming that he was on steroids,” said another doctor at KEM.

Three more Indian weightlifters test positive for steroids.

Three more Indian weightlifters have tested positive for doping, taking the latest positive tests to five, and the national body is now facing another suspension.

Male lifters Harbhajan Singh and Rajesh Kumar and female Bijaya Devi were caught in World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) tests at a training camp for the Commonwealth championships, Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) secretary Baldev Gulati said.

Shailaja Pujari, a women's 75kg gold medallist at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and men's 56kg lifter Vicky Batta failed out-of-competition tests last month.

"I'm dumbfounded," Gulati told Reuters on Thursday. "All of them have shown some sort of anabolic steroid.

"We've also had periodic dope tests. This shows something has happened in the last 20 days, just before the Commonwealth championships, (lifters) trying something, if this is correct."

The Commonwealth meet starts in Malaysia on Sunday.

All of the competitors have denied any wrongdoing and were seeking tests of their B samples, Gulati said.

"What is causing a bit of suspicion is all of them have tested for the same type of anabolic steroid, the same quantum. There is something that doesn't look very natural."

India has repeatedly faced embarrassment due to doping among weightlifters and the national body was banned in 2004 and 2006, because three or more lifters tested positive in a calendar year.

Indians giving info on counterfeit drugs will now get rewarded.

"According to the policy, the reward — a maximum of 20% of the total cost of consignments seized — will be payable to the informer which should not exceed Rs 25 lakh in each case. In respect to an officer in the government or in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the reward will not exceed Rs 5 lakh for one case and a maximum of Rs 30 lakh in his or her entire service."

Health ministry, however, estimates that 5% of drugs sold in India are counterfeit while 0.3% are spurious. A counterfeit medicine is one that has no active ingredient or is an expired drug which has been re-labelled and sold. It's different from a fake drug, which may not resemble the original in any way.

Only 5% od drugs sold in India are fake because most fakes are exported :-)

Germany cracking down on online Viagra sales.

"German customs authorities said Wednesday they had smashed a ring selling millions of counterfeit male potency tablets online from India and other Asian countries after raids in five cities.

The operation involving 60 customs officerscersseven prosecutors and 25 tax investigators turned up a stockpile of 46,000 pills destined for mail-order distribution, the customs office in the western city of Essen said.

Seven people were detained in the raids throughout the surrounding Ruhr Valley region carried out in early May after a months-long probe. Four have since been remanded in custody.

"The medication, which requires a prescription, was sold via so-called online pharmacies on the Internet," the customs office said in a statement."

India's largest drug maker Ranbaxy to make HGH soon.

"Ranbaxy Laboratories is planning a new growth hormone product to target the emerging global market for new versions of patent-expired biotech drugs, a person familiar with the development said."