Comeback Kid Ankiel Caught Up in Latest Human Growth Hormone Scandal

According to the New York Daily News, St. Louis Cardinals’ former pitcher/current outfielder Rick Ankiel purchased a 12-month supply of human growth hormone from a Florida pharmacy that’s been at the center of an Internet-based drug distribution ring.  Any news of any athlete being involved with HGH shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows professional sports.

The News is reporting that according to documents that they’ve received and to their inside sources, Ankiel purchased the drugs Saizen and Genotropin via the Internet from Orlando-based Signature Pharmacy.  Signature has been at the center of the investigation that involves the distribution of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) via the Internet, and the names of many high-profile athletes have been among Signature’s customer list.

Ankiel’s prescriptions for these drugs were signed by a doctor that works for the Health and Rejuvenation Center, a life-extension clinic that operates out of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

The path this scandal has taken has been predictable since Day 1.  First of all, HGH is the drug of choice in professional sports leagues in America because there isn’t a test that can uncover its use.

Regardless of whether or not HGH works, athletes believe that it works, and since it’s undetectable it’s the perfect PED for athletes.  Life-extension centers have been touting the benefits of HGH, and for the better part of a decade have been distributing this drug to Joe and Joan Average.

There’s no question that athletes have been using HGH for at least the last 10-15 years, but now that this PED is “on the radar” it’s tougher for athletes – at least the dumber athletes – to get their hands on this product.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of HGH only for children with short-stature that’s due to a deficiency in growth hormone and for adults that due to disease have a growth hormone deficiency.  These life-extension centers seem to be playing fast and loose with the FDA’s regulations in prescribing HGH for adults.  There are many ways that a person’s HGH levels can be affected so that screening will reveal low-levels of this hormone, thus justifying HGH therapy.

The mind-set of athletes willing to use PEDs is such that many of these guys have no clue as to what they are messing with.  HGH affects the endocrine system, arguably one of the body’s most sensitive mechanisms.  While there no reason to believe that anyone will drop dead from using HGH obtained legitimately from a physician and administered under the proper conditions, there is every reason to be concerned that the HGH could be of the black-market variety.  Black-market, tainted versions of HGH have been available for years, and can cause a whole host of severe physical problems.

The smart athletes don’t buy their drugs from Internet-sources or rely upon life-extension centers, but get their stuff from private physicians and from contacts within the pharmaceutical industry that can provide them with legitimacy and much more cover.  This is a story that will continue to evolve and as it moves forward, many more athletes will be implicated.

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