hendog
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http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=3831956
Unreal story. Swept under the rug by NFL.
Highlights
Quietly resigned as team Dr after 22 yrs in summer of 2007.
His split with the team came approximately four months after news reports identified him as the buyer of a substantial quantity of human growth hormone (HGH) from a Florida pharmacy during several months in 2006.
February 2007, two law enforcement officials dropped by his former downtown practice in the Heinz 57 Center office building to question him about the use of a credit card to buy about $150,000 worth of HGH and testosterone -- with a retail value approaching $1 million -- from Signature Pharmacy in Orlando Florida.
DR didn't turn over records. Said he was using HGH to help elderly patients in healing tendon and ligament injuries, which would be illegal.
The off-label use is illegal," said Travis Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "It doesn't happen. Using [HGH] for tendon repair, he is admitting to a crime."
According to the two officials who questioned him that day, Rydze said he treated the patients early in the morning before his normal office hours at a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) facility.
An NFL official said that although the league was concerned by the doctor's link to HGH, it allowed the Steelers to deal in-house with the issue. No one will say whether Rydze was forced out, but he is gone.
Rydze described his research as "kind of a project of mine" to determine the healing effects of HGH, acknowledging he did not seek an FDA exemption. Nor, he said, has he compiled any research data yet.
Rydze told ESPN.com that during a five-year period, he injected about 200 patients with growth hormone. 200 Elderly people risking a drug known to cause enlargening of the heart to help heal tendon damage. Yeah right.
Bought HGH from College Pharmacy in Colorado Springs between 2004 and 2007. The owner of that compounding pharmacy and one of its sales representatives have been indicted and are scheduled for trial in the spring.
Both Haskins and Wright (the 2 investigators) described Rydze as short on specifics. They said they still aren't sure who ultimately was given the HGH.
"Dr. Rydze provided no legitimate explanation for his prescribing of these drugs," Haskins told ESPN.com. "He couldn't come up with any patients, never mind the significant number he'd have to have shown to order the quantity of drugs that he did. And there were some questions as to his story. He was an employee of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where they had a pharmacy. If this was legitimate, why then not use your own pharmacy?
"That is one of the things I questioned him on. I said, 'Doc, this is one of the biggest university medical centers on the East Coast, correct?' I said, 'Never mind the ones that are in the Pittsburgh area, but I am sure there are other pharmacists trained to compound, correct? So why then would you use a pharmacy in Florida and purchase drugs that you can't even verify are legit when you are at one of the most prestigious places in your state that could provide these things for you? And use your own credit card?' He could not provide an answer."
Often, he said, HGH treatment is not covered by insurance, so his patients paid him directly.
Investigators told NFL security chief Milt Aldrich about the meeting with Dr. Rydze.
The two investigators said they are surprised that the Steelers never followed up with them once Rydze's name was made public in connection with the investigation.
Unreal story. Swept under the rug by NFL.
Highlights
Quietly resigned as team Dr after 22 yrs in summer of 2007.
His split with the team came approximately four months after news reports identified him as the buyer of a substantial quantity of human growth hormone (HGH) from a Florida pharmacy during several months in 2006.
February 2007, two law enforcement officials dropped by his former downtown practice in the Heinz 57 Center office building to question him about the use of a credit card to buy about $150,000 worth of HGH and testosterone -- with a retail value approaching $1 million -- from Signature Pharmacy in Orlando Florida.
DR didn't turn over records. Said he was using HGH to help elderly patients in healing tendon and ligament injuries, which would be illegal.
The off-label use is illegal," said Travis Tygart, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. "It doesn't happen. Using [HGH] for tendon repair, he is admitting to a crime."
According to the two officials who questioned him that day, Rydze said he treated the patients early in the morning before his normal office hours at a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) facility.
An NFL official said that although the league was concerned by the doctor's link to HGH, it allowed the Steelers to deal in-house with the issue. No one will say whether Rydze was forced out, but he is gone.
Rydze described his research as "kind of a project of mine" to determine the healing effects of HGH, acknowledging he did not seek an FDA exemption. Nor, he said, has he compiled any research data yet.
Rydze told ESPN.com that during a five-year period, he injected about 200 patients with growth hormone. 200 Elderly people risking a drug known to cause enlargening of the heart to help heal tendon damage. Yeah right.
Bought HGH from College Pharmacy in Colorado Springs between 2004 and 2007. The owner of that compounding pharmacy and one of its sales representatives have been indicted and are scheduled for trial in the spring.
Both Haskins and Wright (the 2 investigators) described Rydze as short on specifics. They said they still aren't sure who ultimately was given the HGH.
"Dr. Rydze provided no legitimate explanation for his prescribing of these drugs," Haskins told ESPN.com. "He couldn't come up with any patients, never mind the significant number he'd have to have shown to order the quantity of drugs that he did. And there were some questions as to his story. He was an employee of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where they had a pharmacy. If this was legitimate, why then not use your own pharmacy?
"That is one of the things I questioned him on. I said, 'Doc, this is one of the biggest university medical centers on the East Coast, correct?' I said, 'Never mind the ones that are in the Pittsburgh area, but I am sure there are other pharmacists trained to compound, correct? So why then would you use a pharmacy in Florida and purchase drugs that you can't even verify are legit when you are at one of the most prestigious places in your state that could provide these things for you? And use your own credit card?' He could not provide an answer."
Often, he said, HGH treatment is not covered by insurance, so his patients paid him directly.
Investigators told NFL security chief Milt Aldrich about the meeting with Dr. Rydze.
The two investigators said they are surprised that the Steelers never followed up with them once Rydze's name was made public in connection with the investigation.
