 Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyScroll down to see extended undercover video clips 5/1/08 UPDATE: Watch video hereThe Arizona Naturopathic Physicians Board of Medical Examiners has taken immediate action and launched its own investigation.If the board determines the doctors are prescribing anabolic steroids illegally, the doctors can lose their licenses and be slapped with hefty fines.
A four-month ABC15 undercover investigation found that at Revolution Medical Centers, steroids are the prescription of choice.
Steroids, human growth hormone, and other performance enhancing drugs can help with muscle-building and putting on size, but they are illegal for a doctor to prescribe without cause.
"There has to be a reason," said Doug Coleman with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Phoenix office. "There has to be a condition that the doctor is trying to treat."
Revolution Medical Centers has two clinics, one in Phoenix and one in Peoria.
Records obtained by ABC15 show the clinics ordering, prescribing, and selling testosterone, omnitrope, human growth hormone, and other similar controlled substances.
Our hidden-camera investigation went inside Revolution Medical Centers to see the process from a patient perspective.
The first step was a consultation with the owner, Dr. Jeremy Bula, a chiropractor and a body builder.
"So just pretend we give you a magic wand and wave it on yourself," Bula said in the consultation. "And whatever (you) would like to change physically, mentally, internally, lay that out there." At all visits to the clinic, the undercover patient made it perfectly clear he was healthy and his only goal was to put on size and increase strength. Within minutes of the initial visit with Dr. Carole Eastman, she was talking about anabolic steroids, hormones, and other drugs that legally can only be prescribed for legitimate medical conditions. The undercover patient was prescribed testosterone, growth hormone, and Proscar, a cancer medical for women. "This will probably give you the fastest results," Eastman said. Dr. Eastman even showed the patient how to inject the steroids for maximum effect. From there, it was on to the pharmacy inside the clinic, where they fill the prescriptions, give a lesson in shooting up, and pack the drugs with needles neatly inside a little black bag.
The cost for a bag full of steroids and supplies was $2,057.75. "If you happen to be out of town and you run out of meds, call in a refill," the person behind the pharmacy counter said. "We ship it to you overnight wherever you're at." The drugs in question are the same drugs chronicled in the Mitchell Report that brought shame to Major League Baseball. That steroid scandal has resulted in a federal probe of baseball's elite as well as the doctors prescribing the drugs. It is important to note that for legal reasons, the undercover patient stopped short of walking out the door with any drugs, but did keep copies of prescriptions and other medical records. The ABC15 Investigators repeatedly asked Doctor Bula and his team of physicians for on-camera interviews. Those requests were all denied. We did receive two letters from lawyers representing Revolution Medical Centers. The first letter raised concern over the release of patient information. However, in this story, we did not identify any patients by name or face. In a second letter, received April 25, the clinic's attorney wrote, "My client hereby affirmatively denies that it engages (or has engaged) in any illegal conduct of any nature whatsoever."
Glossary (Courtesy: Taylor Hooton Foundation)Medical Terms / Common Terms / Slang - AAS: Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, this is the medically accepted abbreviation for steroids.
- A-bombs: This is a slang name for Oxymetholone, which was originally sold under the trade name Anadrol.
- Aerobic: In the presents of oxygen
- Anaerobic: In the absence of oxygen
- Anabolic: Protein building
- Anabolic steroid: One of several compounds derived from testosterone or prepared synthetically to promote general body growth, to oppose the effects of endogenous estrogen, or to promote masculinization effects.
- Slang: Arnolds, Gym Candy, Pumpers, Stackers, Weight Trainers, Juice
- Androgen: Any steroid hormone that promotes male characteristics
- Aromatize: The on take of feminine or feminization
- Atrophy: Refers to a state of deterioration usually within the muscle or bodily organ due to a lack of use or health.
- Blending: Using steroids with other drug(s)
- Carbohydrates: Any group of chemical compounds, including sugars, starches, and cellulose, containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen only.
- Catabolism: A complex metabolic process in which energy is liberated for use in work, energy storage, or heat production by destruction of complex substances. Basically muscle tissue is broken down when a person is in a catabolic state and the use of anabolic steroids will change this.
- Central Nervous System (CNS): The spinal cord and the brain
- Cholesterol: A fatty substance found in animals that perform many vital functions and is synthesized by the liver and the adrenal cortex.
- Clen: Clenbuterol is not an anabolic steroid. It is a
prescription asthma medication that if used in high enough doses
increases the metabolic rate, thus reducing body fat. - Cycle: The time in which a certain steroid (s) is taken. If you take a steroid for 6 weeks it is a 6-week cycle. Usually the time on the cycle is followed by the same amount of time off of the cycle.
- Dart, Poke, Ned: Slang terms for syringes
- D-bol: This is a slang name for Methandrostenolone, which was originally sold under the trade name Dianabol.
- Deca: This is a slang name for Nandrolone Decanoate, which was originally sold under the trade name Deca-Durablin.
- Diuretic: A substance that increase the amount of urine which is released by the kidneys.
- Doping: Steroid use specific to athletic competition
- Energy system: One of the three metabolic systems involving a series of chemical reactions resulting in the formation of waste products and the manufacture of ATP.
- EQ: This is a slang name for a veterinary drug called Boldenone Undeclynate, originally sold under the trade name Equipoise.
- Estrogen: The female androgen.
- Glucose: Simple sugars.
- Glycogen: The form in which glucose (Sugar) is stored in the muscle and the liver.
- Freaky: A bodybuilding term used to describe a person who is huge and obviously on steroids.
- Fake or basement drugs: Refers to counterfeit or fake steroids
- Gear: Slang for steroids, syringes, anything associated with steroids.
- Gynecomastia: An abnormal enlargement of one or both breasts in men. This condition is usually temporary due to a hormone imbalance brought on by the use of steroids, however, can occur naturally as well.
- Hormone: A discrete chemical substance secreted into the body fluids by an endocrine gland that has a specific effect on the activities of other cells, tissue and organs.
- Hypertrophy: An increase in the size of a cell or organ.
- Immune system: The system in a person’s body that wards off infection and responds to illness.
- Juice: Slang term for injectable steroids
- Lactic Acid (Lactate): A fatiguing metabolite of the lactic acid system resulting in incomplete breakdown of glucose.
- Lactic Acid System: An anaerobic energy system in which ATP is manufactured when glucose is broken down to lactic acid.
- Maturation: Progress toward adulthood
- Metabolism: The sum total of chemical changes or reactions occurring in the body.
- Lean mass: The amount of muscle on a person’s body
- Libido: A person’s sex drive
- Pyramiding: When users slowly escalate steroid use (increasing the number of drugs used at one time and/or the dose and frequency of one or more steroids) reaching a peak amount at mid-cycle and gradually tapering the dose toward the end of the cycle
- Roid Rages: Uncontrolled outbursts of anger, frustration, or combativeness that may result from using anabolic steroids.
- Shotgunning: taking steroids on an inconsistent basis.
- Stacking: using a combination of two or more anabolic steroids often in combination with other drugs
- Test: Testosterone
- Trade name: The name given to a particular substance by each company that manufactures it.
- Tren: This is a slang name for any form of the drug “Trenbolone” which is available in several forms.
- UG or UGL: Underground Labs, or clandestine laboratories that produce anabolic steroids.
- Var: This is a slang name for Oxandrolone, which was originally sold under the trade name Anavar.
- Virilization: The process in which a person takes on characteristics of a mature male
- Winny/Winnie: This is a slang name for Stanozolol, which was originally sold under the trade name Winstrol.
Training Terminology - Strength Coach: Professional coach who’s primary responsibilities are:
- Physical development
- Nutritional strategies
- Pre- and Rehabilitation in support of the medical staff
- Planning and organizing year round training programs
- Support of the Sports Psychologist programs
- Conditioning techniques and strategies
- Athletic Trainer Certified (ATC): This person has been certified by the national certification body, to provide the following care for athletes:
- Care and prevention of athletic injuries
- Support the medical team in rehabilitation of athletic injuries
- Educational source for athletes seek advice about health related issues
- Coordinates the medical care for athletes and teams as assigned
- Provides a link between the organization and the medical consultants
- First responder to the care of an injuries athlete
- Provides additional duties as assigned in the over-all welfare of the athlete
- Ballistic: Dynamic muscular movements
- Conditioning: Augmentation of the energy capacity of muscle through an exercise program. Conditioning is not primarily concerned with skill of performance, as in the case of training.
- Detraining: The reversal of adaptation to training.
- Personal trainer: Individual that may or may not hold any certification or degree in the related field of strength and conditioning. This person is commonly found in a private gym setting. (Former players, weight lifters, want-a-be coaches)
- Macro-cycle: A phase of training of 2-6 weeks long
- Micro-cycle: It represents a phase of training approximately one week.
- Periodization: It represents a process of structuring a training in to phases
- Periodization of strength: It structures the training program into phases in order to maximize one’s capacity to meet the specifics of strength according to the needs of a sport
- HIT Program: It represents a program that is structured around a High Intensity Training program, usually taking a muscle group to failure during training.
- Plyometrics: Are drills or exercises aimed at linking sheer strength and scope of movement to produce an explosive reaction type movement?
- Plateau: Period during training when no observable progress is being made.
- Rep maximum (RM or IRM): The maximal load of a muscle group can lift in one attempt.
- Resistance training: The use of various methods and equipment to provide an external force to exercise against.
- Sets: The total number of repetitions performed before a rest period is taken.
- Specificity of training: Principles underlying construction of a training program for a specific activity or skill.
- Training frequency: The number of times per week for a training workout.
- Volume: A quantities element of training.
|
