BALCO Investigator Moving from Steroids in Baseball to Steroids in Supplements

Jul 27

BALCO Investigator Moving from Steroids in Baseball to Steroids in Supplements

Jeff Novitzky Sets His Sights on the Supplement Industry

Jeff Novitzky, the chief investigator in the BALCO steroid scandal, has turned his attention from finding anabolic steroid in professional sports such as baseball to finding steroids in dietary supplements sold by sports nutrition companies. Novitzky led the FDA raid of a Max Muscle Store in the Castro section of San Francisco, American Cellular Labs (ACL) and a business believed to be associated with ACL identified as WVM Global Incorporated. The Pacifica home of the Maurice Sandoval, identified as the CEO of ACL, was also covered by the search warrant.

The FDA targeted the ACL products identified as “Tren Xtreme” and “Mass Xtreme”. Jeff Novitzky alleged in an affidavit that the listed ingredients contained in these products met current definition of "anabolic steroid" under federal law and were sold as misbranded and unapproved new drugs. Therefore, distribution of "Tren Xtreme" and "Mass Xtreme" violated the Controlled Substance Act and numerous sections of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).

Nvitzky and the FDA specifically targeted the ingredients openly listed on the label of Tren Xtreme and Mass Xtreme.

"Tren" in “Tren Xtreme” is also known by the following chemical names: 19-Norandrosta-4,9-diene-3,17-dione and Estra-4,9-diene-3,17-dione

Don Catlin, the infamous steroid hunter who runs the Anti-Doping Research lab, has previously stated that “tren” was not a dietary supplement at all but instead “masqueraded as a supplement”.

William Llewellyn, author of the authoritative anabolic steroid reference manual “Anabolics“, reported that there is no known source for “tren” in nature; this was one of the required criteria to qualify as a dietary supplement under the guidelines of the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA). “I have to agree with Don Catlin’s assessment that “tren” is not a supplement, but a synthetic designer steroid,” stated Llewellyn. “Since the designer steroid “tren” is not natural, it is considered a misbranded drug under federal law.”

“Madol” in “Mass Xtreme” is also known by the following synonyms: desoxymethyltestosterone, DMT and 17a-Methyl-etioallocholan-2-ene-17b-ol.

Supplement companies have claimed that DMT was a naturally-occurring pheromone in elephant’s urine, therefore it was legal to sell as a dietary supplement under DSHEA.

Patrick Arnold, most recently the chemist at Erogpharm and Proviant Technologies, disputes this claim. Arnold reports that Madol is a misbranded drug since it is not naturally occurring in nature. “If you take the 17alpha-methyl group off of DMT then you have the elephant pheromone,” stated Arnold in a Twitter message. “But DMT itself is not natural.”

It is important to note that “DMT” and “tren” were NOT legally defined as an “anabolic steroid” under the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 and 2004. Most supplement industry experts disagree with Jeff Novitzky’s assertion that “tren” or “Madol” can currently be legally classified as a controlled substance (anabolic steroid).

At the same time, they concede that the listed ingredients in ACL Tren Xtreme and Mass Xtreme are misbranded and/or unapproved new drugs. “Novitzky claim is that "tren" and "madol" should be considered classified as controlled right now, TODAY,” reacted Patrick Arnold on Twitter. “That is never gonna stand up.”

Sources

“Former IRS agent who hunted steroid distributors strikes again at home of American Cellular Labs CEO,” July 24, 2009

“Two Dietary Supplements Said to Contain Steroids,” July 23, 2009

“Steroid raid on Castro district store,” July 23, 2009

“War on Steroids Attacks Supplement Industry,” March 19, 2009

Patrick Arnold on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pa1ad

By Millard Baker

http://www.millardbaker.com

www.SteroidsRx.com