Barely more than a week after Major League Baseball suspended Phillies reliever J.C. Romero for 50 games for using a banned substance, the laboratory that produced the nutritional supplement that the left-hander claimed was tainted and caused him to falsely test positive has been raided by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Ergopharm’s lab, located in Champ, Ill., and owned by chemist Patrick Arnold who was part of the BALCO steroids scandal, was raided by the DEA on Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified. Ergopharm produces 6-OXO, which Romero said he purchased at a General Nutrition Center in Cherry Hill, N.J. Romero also said he believed 6-OXO was not banned by MLB.
Romero tested positive twice last season, on Aug. 26 and Sept. 19.
The New England Office of the DEA led the raid and was assisted by local DEA and police. No arrests were made and a document warrant was served.
Ergopharm, in a statement to the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday, said that “a perfectly legal and untainted substance can cause a positive test for a banned or illegal substance.”
However, MLB executive vice president and human resources Rob Manfred dismissed the idea that Romero might have tested for a false positive in an interview with MLB.com’s Barry Bloom.
They didn't need to raid the company to verify Romero's claims. They did, however, need to raid the company to make headlines for themselves and make it look like they're earning their pay.
I think I may require some type of supplement. This time of year, every time I see a BP headline that begins with a flashy word like "BREAKING," I fully expect the balance of the headline to state something akin to "Updated PECOTA Cards Posted."
I'd like to know what the advantage would be for a baseball player to be taking a diuretic? I'm assuming there has to be an advantage for them or they wouldn't be paying money to take a substance if there wasn't. I looked up the word diuretic in the dictionary and it said, "causing more urine to be secreted." Could someone please explain to me what the advantage would be?
Yep, there's no medical or performance reason for an athelete to take a diuretic other than to mask usage of a banned substance. So you can understand why they might be banned.
Many stimulants are also diuretics, and taking them in the offseason would lead me to believe they're looking to cut weight and go to camp in shape. There were some busts in football for clenbuterol last year, which on one hand has masking/diuretic effects but on the other is just a really good way to lose weight
Personally, I'm just enjoying how the headline reads in the Unfiltered links: "Ergopharm raided by John Perotto." So, John, why did you raid Ergopharm?
Just because we don't like stediod whisper campaigns is no reason not to support busting an organization that pretty clearly is supplying PEDs or masking agents to pro athletes. Good for you, DEA
I supppose that depends on your privacy tolerance. Personally, I don't think a search of this kind is warranted (!) when the only indication of law-breaking is the word of a guy who got caught cheating; particularly when there are other, less instrusive means of verifying the cheater's claims. Obviously, your mileage varies.
Of course, you won't complain when the police show up to search your house after getting a tip from someone who thinks you're breaking the law - right?
From what I understand, there has been more suspicions surrounding Ergopharm prior to Romero. Patrick Arnold seems like he's been in the Fed's crosshairs for sometime.
And my house is not the same as a pharmaceutical company's office. That's a strawman of the silliest variety. I don't manufacture drugs and conduct business in my home. And no one lives in the Ergopharm offices.
How are the police supposed to know you don't manufacture drugs or run a business in your home without searching it? The Feds aren't taking Arnold's word he's not doing anything wrong - why should a different standard apply to you?
See, the NSA was doing it all wrong. They needed to say that there were monitoring phone calls to try and identify people using and manufacturing steroids, NOT trying to identify people plotting attacks against the USA. No one likes a cheater.
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Champaign, IL gets a shout-out on Baseball Prospectus!