UM Defends Drug Testing That Doesn't Include HGH
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The University of Miami declared Thursday that no student in the past seven years and 10,000 drug tests has tested positive for anabolic steroids. But that doesn't necessarily mean the school has been clean when it comes to performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs.
The school issued a statement Thursday with the results that also said, "The University of Miami, like many of our peer institutions, the NCAA and many professional sports leagues, does not currently test for Human Growth Hormones."
In other words, while UM may have a rigorous testing process for anabolic steroids and other illegal drugs like cocaine, the school chooses not to test for human growth hormones. This decision comes despite UM being one of the top medical research institutions in the country.
The current controversy has flared up after the Miami New Times report identified multiple players, including Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, and Gio Gonzalez as having received performance-enhancing drugs from a South Florida clinic called Biogenesis.
The University of Miami was tied to the investigation when the New Times reported that strength coach Jimmy Goins was also part of a university investigation into the performance-enhancing drug issue.
Ironically, UM's statement about professional sports leagues not testing for HGH doesn't apply to Major League Baseball, which has started testing for the banned substance. The NBA is hoping to test for the substance in the next year or two and the NFL is still sorting out which testing method they want to use.
Testing for human growth hormone was first introduced at the 2004 Summer Olympics and is conducted using a sample of blood.
ESPN Investigative reporter T.J. Quinn tweeted about the UM statement saying, "better question for Miami is how it's possible not one athlete doped in seven years. THAT would be news."
