At least 23 pro athletes — most of them NFL and MLB players — are suddenly very nervous after a prominent Canadian doctor was charged by the U.S. government yesterday with a host of crimes involving the distribution of human growth hormone.
Dr. Anthony Galea, the Toronto-based physician who has treated a slew of big names ranging from Tiger Woods to Alex Rodriguez to Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, was charged in Buffalo in connection with distributing HGH and other performance-enhancing drugs to three unnamed current and former NFL players last year.
The affidavit revealed by U.S. officials refers to the unidentified NFL players as witnesses, including one who admitted getting HGH from Galea after the player’s retirement.
But according to ESPN, Canadian court documents obtained show that Galea had a lot more than three athletes as clients last year — an eye-popping 23, in fact.
As a result, the doctor could be the first piece to fall in an embarrassing domino effect for the NFL, baseball and the PGA Tour if those names are revealed.
The case was blown open last September when Galea’s executive assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, was stopped at the border by U.S. officials trying to bring HGH into the country.
Catalano is cooperating with U.S. and Canadian authorities and provided the names of the 23 athletes to authorities, along with an extremely detailed timeline of their treatments in the latter half of 2009.
Three of the athletes identified by Catalano were treated in Manhattan last summer, including one player referred to as “Athlete B” in government documents who received HGH injections in his knee six times between July 22 and Sept. 10.
Galea, who is not licensed to practice medicine in the U.S., was charged with smuggling, conspiring to lie to federal officials, unlawful distribution of HGH, introducing the unapproved drug Actovegin into interstate commerce and conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
“Today’s complaint reveals that those responsible for the flow of illegal drugs into our country can come from all walks of life,” U.S. Attorney William Hochul told reporters yesterday.
HGH use is banned by all the major U.S. sports leagues, though there is not an approved test for it yet in this country.
The NFL, already embarrassed after a scandal-filled offseason, said it is hoping to obtain the identity of the three football players in the affidavit so that they can be punished under the league’s PED policy.
The NFL also vowed to push for HGH testing in its ongoing negotiations with the players’ union, which is sure to balk as much as its baseball counterpart because it considers the current test — involving the drawing of blood from the subject on multiple days — to be overly invasive.
“We obviously have a very strong interest in learning who these players are and about their involvement with any prohibited substances so that we can enforce our policies,” the NFL said in a statement. “When we have had evidence of illegal purchase, possession, or use of HGH, we have imposed discipline and are fully prepared to do so again if the facts support it.
“This case highlights the need for enhanced testing, and in our discussions about a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association, we have proposed expanding our current testing program to include [HGH].”
Galea has a highly publicized link to the Mets after using his controversial “platelet-rich plasma therapy” on Reyes last summer in an effort to speed the shortstop’s recovery from a lingering knee injury. The platelet therapy involves drawing blood, spinning it in a centrifuge then re-injecting it into the knee.
Reyes and Beltran were questioned by U.S. authorities this year about their treatment with Galea.