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Philadelphia Phillies pitcher J.C. Romero, suspended for the first 50 games of this season after testing positive for steroids last year, filed a civil lawsuit Monday against a nutritional supplement manufacturer whose owner previously served prison time for distributing steroids.
Romero won two games during the Phillies' World Series victory over Tampa Bay, but it was subsequently revealed that he tested positive for a banned substance in late August.
In his lawsuit, Romero states that the positive test resulted from his use of over-the-counter supplements 6-OXO and 6-OXO Extreme. The products are manufactured by ErgoPharm, Inc., a Champaign, Ill.-based company run by Patrick Arnold.
Arnold was the chemist whose designer steroid known as "The Clear" was central to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative steroids case. He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of steroid distribution and served three months in prison and three months of house arrest.
Prior to BALCO, Arnold was well-known as the Father of Prohormones and the man who brought the once-legal supplement Androstenedione, known as Andro, to the American market. Mark McGwire's admitted use of the testosterone-boosting agent during his record-breaking home run season of 1998 helped spike sales of the supplement. Andro ultimately was made illegal. Romero tested positive for Andro, according to the lawsuit, which suggests that the 6-OXO Extreme could have become contaminated during manufacturing of the supplement.
In January, partly as a result of the Romero case, Arnold's lab was raided by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration. A federal probe is being run out of the DEA's Boston office. Romero's lawsuit states that he purchased the products first at The Vitamin Shoppe in Cherry Hill, N.J., and then at a General Nutrition Centers store in his hometown of Fairhope, Ala. Both companies are based in Delaware.
In each case, Romero was assured by the salesperson that the supplements would not cause him to test positive for steroids, according to the lawsuit. Also, Romero claims he did research on 6-OXO, 6-OXO Extreme and ErgoPharm's other products. Romero "satisfied himself through his research that neither contained any substances that were banned and/or prohibited from use by Major League Baseball," the suit states.
At various Web sites on the Internet, 6-OXO Extreme is touted as a product for "maximum testosterone production FOR HARDCORE USERS ONLY;" a "testosterone booster" that will "raise endogenous testosterone production;" and a supplement that "stimulates levels well into the supraphysiological range." 6-OXO also is marketed as an "aromatase inhibitor," which means it works to enhance natural production of testosterone. Aromatase inhibitors are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, but not in baseball. Andro, however, is banned by the sport.
In a previous interview unrelated to the Romero case, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief science director Larry Bowers told ESPN that Arnold's 6-OXO products were cause for red flags among athletes.
"He comes right out and says aromatase inhibitor," Bowers said. "So from the point of view of the Olympic athlete, they should be cautious when seeing something like that and be familiar with it. I don't think he's trying to mislead in that sense, at least for the Olympic athlete."
But Bowers did say USADA's analysis of the substance indicated it had anabolic qualities as well.
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