Patients investigated
This is a very important, possibly precedence-establishing case.
Eight patients of Powermedica.com are being investigated for trying to obtain AAS illegally.
The feds are reviewing patient records to see who ordered AAS from Powermedica. They found 8 broward country sheriff officers that were patients and have turned over the info to the Sheriff's Office.
Keep in mind that this is only an "internal affairs inquiry" but this is not a good sign when patients are being investigated and subjected to drug testing as a result of buying AAS from a longevity clinic.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-0217cbso,0,2035369.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
BSO deputies found on list of Deerfield company that is target of drug inquiry
By Paula McMahon
Staff Writer
February 17, 2005, 10:58 PM EST
Eight Broward sheriff's deputies are under investigation after their names showed up as patients or customers at a Deerfield Beach drug company that was raided by federal agents earlier this week, the Sheriff's Office confirmed Thursday.
Federal investigators from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration raided the PowerMedica office Tuesday looking for mislabeled human-growth hormones and anabolic steroids that were sold without valid prescriptions, according to search warrants released by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami.
Two law enforcement sources said some of the deputies are on the SWAT team, and others work in the Deerfield Beach district.
Federal investigators turned over the eight deputies' names to the Sheriff's Office after they were found in records seized from the company Tuesday night.
The deputies are all under investigation by the internal affairs unit of the Sheriff's Office and have been required to undergo drug testing, Sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedal said. They have been placed on administrative assignment, which means they will work desk jobs until the inquiry is completed.
"We will be trying to determine if any of our people obtained these prescription drugs illegally," Leljedal said.
He said he could not release details of the pending investigation.
"Obviously, the sheriff is aware of it [the investigation], and he is concerned." Leljedal said.
The deputies have not been charged with any crimes, but Leljedal said the results of the investigation will be turned over to the Broward State Attorney's Office to determine whether any action should be taken.
According to a list of evidence seized from PowerMedica, one deputy's name was on an invoice for three vials of two anabolic steroids, Stanozolol and Oxyandrolone.
Anabolic steroids can legally be prescribed to promote weight gain after extensive surgery or chronic infections and to treat certain types of anemia. People who abuse steroids, including athletes, often do so to bulk up and to improve physical performance.
Human growth hormones are sometimes illegally used to help slow down or reverse the aging process. Pat Hanrahan, senior vice president of the Broward Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents sworn Sheriff's Office employees, said he had not been informed of the investigation and could not comment.
In court documents, federal agents wrote that they began investigating the company after they were able to get prescription steroids and human growth hormones without seeing a doctor. The affidavits include allegations the company was selling some of the medications as rejuvenating products.
PowerMedica CEO Daniel Dailey said his company did nothing illegal. "We didn't sell anything to BSO officers without valid prescriptions," he said.
The Sheriff's Office policy and procedures manual says employees are prohibited from using drugs or controlled substances unless they are lawfully prescribed by a doctor, dentist or pharmacist. Employees can be terminated or face lesser punishments for violating the agency's drug policies. Employees can be ordered to take drug tests at any time, Leljedal said.
The unprescribed use of anabolic steroids is illegal, dangerous and ill-advised, experts said. "It can make you more aggressive, more impulsive and more easy to anger," said Dr. Linn Goldberg, professor of Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. He runs a program designed to prevent steroid and other drug use in adolescent athletes.
"You wouldn't want a police officer to be impulsive and get in the way of his or her better judgment, because they have a weapon," he said. "In the high stress of an arrest, or tracking someone, or chasing someone, you'd want them under as much control as possible."
Other medical experts agreed.
Anabolic steroids "are dangerous for anybody involved in a service profession, where you have a lot of contact with people and you have to be diplomatic," said Dr. Nabil El Sanadi, Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue's medical director and chairman of emergency medicine for Broward General Medical Center. "If you have a temper, it may make it worse. ..... The finesse, as far as human dynamics and the ability to be diplomatic, is lost."
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami declined to comment on the investigation Thursday.
Staff Writers Shannon O'Boye and Jaime Hernandez and WTVJ-Ch. 6 contributed to this report. . Paula McMahon can be reached at
pmcmahon@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4533.
Copyright 2005,
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
