Yet another Major League Baseball player has been linked to Signature Pharmacy. New York Mets’ reliever, Scott Schoeneweis, was reportedly sent multiple shipments of anabolic steroids from an internet pharmacy at the center of a major performance-enhancing drug distribution ring involving bogus prescriptions dispensed over the internet. According to the ESPN, Schoeneweis received multiple shipments of stanozolol for sale and/or testosterone between May 2003 and June 2004 while he was a member of the Chicago White Sox.
The drugs were prescribed by Ramon Scruggs of the New Hope Health Center in Tustin, Calif, the same doctor that prescribed steroids to Troy Glaus. And just like Glaus the substances Schoeneweis received were dispensed by Signature Pharmacy and banned by MLB at the time.
Scruggs has since been suspended by California’s state medical board on charges that he “prescribed approximately 6,073 prescriptions of dangerous drugs or controlled substances over the Internet without a good faith examination of the patients.”
Schoeneweis’ story is a little more disturbing than that of Glaus’ or others linked to Signature. Schoeneweis reportedly received multiple shipments of steroids at Comisky Park while a member of the White Sox in both 2003 and 2004. This is the first report of a player having steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs delivered directly to the stadium.
It was also mentioned in the ESPN article that Schoeneweis had testicular cancer before his sophomore year at Duke University in 1993. In an interview with New York Post reporter Mark Hale in February 2007, Schoeneweis described the condition and the subsequent treatments. The implication by ESPN appears to be a preemptive refutation of the notion that Schoeneweis may have needed steroids to aid in hormone production.
Gary Wadler, a physician and member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said that while it might make sense for someone with hormone deficiencies to buy testosterone, he had never heard of anyone taking stanozolol to help with the affliction. “It’s not an approved use, as far as I’m aware of,” he said.
An ESPN source that reviewed the invoices attributed to Schoeneweis said the pitcher’s orders totaled $1160.
UPDATE:
The following day Schoeneweis denied everything to the New York Daily News.
“I don’t even know what that is,” said Schoeneweis, who was apparently unaware of the allegations that he received steroids from Signature until informed by The News. “Steroids in Florida? I never received anything from Florida. I’m not going to comment. I never even heard of it.”
As Steroid Nation points out so bluntly, guilty or not, Schoeneweis claiming ignorance of the entire pharmacy scandal is not very believable.
Interesting comments. Did MLB players read the news over the past 6 months? With one of the scandals originating in the Mets clubhouse, might it be possible a Met player is unaware of the name of the Internet pharmacy plastered all over the news and the Internet the entire 2007 season?