Food and Drug Administration investigators executed a search warrant Thursday on an Idaho-based supplement company that does an estimated $150 million in sales a year over the Internet, looking for evidence it deals in designer steroids and andro.
Investigators searched the headquarters of bodybuilding.com, a company based in Meridian, Idaho, according to a person familiar with the search. The person, who requested anonymity, was not authorized to discuss the investigation.
The affidavit filed in Idaho District Court listed more than 60 products sold by the company that contained five controlled substances or designer steroids, including andro and madol, a designer steroid the FDA identified in a similar probe that prompted the July raid of American Cellular Labs."
Full story from HeraldNet.com
"The affidavit claims that the Web site has been illegally selling five anabolic steroids with the names “Madol,” “Tren,” “Superdrol,” “Androstenedione,” and “Turinabol,” despite five “warning letters” from the FDA since 2002 informing the company that it was in violation of the law.
“It's a significant step but it also unfortunately highlights the ineffective regulation of this industry,” said Travis Tygart, president of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “We've got to wonder how many others are out there continuing to sell these and other anabolic steroids.”
Rob Blenkinsop, the FDA special agent who signed the 86-page affidavit, was also involved with the BALCO crackdown and was listed as a government witness in last year's perjury trial against Tammy Thomas. In the document, Blenkinsop claims to have been involved with the execution of four search warrants in the last four months at firms “involved with the illegal distribution of misbranded and unapproved drugs being marketed as dietary supplements.”
Full story from NYDailyNews.com
"According to the documents, 26 of 31 products purchased by the Food and Drug Administration as part of the investigation tested positive for at least one steroid. Among the steroids found in the products were Madol, Tren, Superdrol, androstenedione, and Turinabol."
"The F.D.A.’s investigations of supplements have caught the attention of members of Congress. Senator Arlen Specter, Democrat of Pennsylvania, has called a hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs titled “Body Building Products and Hidden Steroids: Enforcement Barriers.”
Full story from the NYTimes.com
