Muller: Canadian Doctor Pleads Guilty To Smuggling HGH Into U.S.
By Shawn Muller--
(CBS) If you are a professional athlete and you were associated with Canadian Dr. Anthony Galea in the past, you are probably feeling a little uneasy right about now.
Galea, who at one time was one of the most sought after sports medicine specialists in North America, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday for bringing unapproved drugs into the United States--drugs that you and I have come to know and love as the performance-enhancing type--to treat professional athletes.
Back in October of 2010, Dr. Galea was indicted by a federal grand jury after being charged with smuggling HGH and other "substances" and lying to U.S. border patrol officers in hopes of avoiding arrest. While the majority of those charges brought against Galea were dropped due to his plea deal, I can see panic taking over soon for some of the professional athletes who had previously been treated by the Canadian "medicine man."
By agreeing to cooperate with federal investigators, it is possible that Galea will disclose the identities of all his patients, and the treatments they received.
And that information could be quite damaging for any and all guilty parties, to say the least.
Though Galea was not licensed to practice medicine in the United States, he was accused of treating twenty athletes on American soil; at the athletes' homes, in hotels, and in some cases, at the various homes of the athletes' friends, beginning in 2007 and ending in 2009.
As of today, we do know the names of some of the names on Galea's former client list. Athletes such as Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Takeo Spikes, and Jamal Lewis are linked to him--though not accused of using banned substances--but the most notable names are those of Tiger Woods, and Alex Rodriguez.
While neither Woods nor Rodriguez have admitted to--nor have they been accused of--any type of wrong doing, it does make you wonder doesn't it? After all, there are at least 20 known clients of Dr. Galea, and seven of them have been injected with a banned substance.
I just can't help but be a bit skeptical.
Are people supposed to believe an athlete could be involved with a doctor who has a track record like Dr. Galea, and was never administered banned substances?
This is a guy that has been charged in the U.S (though dropped due to his plea bargain) with conspiracy, smuggling, distribution of HGH, and bringing unapproved drugs across international borders, and also being charged in Canada with selling Actovegin (a derivative of calf's blood), and conspiracy of importing and exporting illegal drugs.
Seems a little shady to me.
Alex Rodriguez's word is about as solid as a wet toilet paper when it comes to using banned substances. He lied once about using steroids, so why should/would anyone believe him--or anyone defending him--when he says that he did nothing wrong while seeing Dr. Galea? As for Tiger Woods, it's not like the beacon of trust is shining brightly over his head these days either, so why are we to automatically believe those who are clearing him of any wrong-doing?
This could get very interesting down the road to say the least.
Do you agree with Shawn? Post your comments below.
Shawn Muller has lived in the great city of Chicago for 7 years. He is a 2002 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and, in October of 2010, Shawn received his certificate in radio broadcasting. In his free time, Shawn enjoys spending time with his wife Melissa and 3 year old daughter Ava, catching any live sporting event, and traveling. Check out his radio show, Grab Some Bench with Muller and Bangser" every Thursday night at 8:30 P.M., at www.blogtalkradio.com/spmuller24. Read more of his blogs here.
