Millar used EPO

PARIS, France -- World time trial champion David Millar of Britain was
Thursday placed under judicial investigation for illegal possession of
toxic products, his lawyer said.

Millar told a court west of Paris he had used the banned blood booster
erythropoietin (EPO), a fact he admitted during 48 hours of police
custody last week.

"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001 and
2003. He had a total of three treatment sessions in one week," lawyer
Paul-Albert Iwens said.

Judge Richard Pallain brought charges against no one else in the
affair and the 27-year-old rider was released with no restrictions on
his freedom of movement, Iwens added.

After his court appearance, Millar refused comment on his cycling
future, saying only that now was not the right time to talk about it.

Full article at
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SPORT/07/01/cycling.millar/

Regards!
Stephen

"Steve McGinty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001 and
2003. He had a total of three treatment sessions in one week," lawyer
Paul-Albert Iwens said.

Damn he must have popped over to Guipuzcoa to take it. So why did he take
the empties back to Biarritz with him?

Later
Dan Gregory

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.710 / Virus Database: 466 - Release Date: 23/06/04

"Steve McGinty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

PARIS, France -- World time trial champion David Millar of Britain was
Thursday placed under judicial investigation for illegal possession of
toxic products, his lawyer said.

Millar told a court west of Paris he had used the banned blood booster
erythropoietin (EPO), a fact he admitted during 48 hours of police
custody last week.

"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001 and
2003. He had a total of three treatment sessions in one week," lawyer
Paul-Albert Iwens said.

Judge Richard Pallain brought charges against no one else in the
affair and the 27-year-old rider was released with no restrictions on
his freedom of movement, Iwens added.

After his court appearance, Millar refused comment on his cycling
future, saying only that now was not the right time to talk about it.

Full article at
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SPORT/07/01/cycling.millar/

Regards!
Stephen

Why would a cyclist use EPO? It's my understanding that the same results
(increased hematocrit) can be achieved with so-called "altitude tents".

GG

It's time for this funboy to retire. Let's see if his next employer will
tolerate his quirky views of the world.

[email hidden] (David N. Welton) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Steve McGinty said:

Judge Richard Pallain brought charges against no one else in the
affair and the 27-year-old rider was released with no restrictions
on his freedom of movement, Iwens added.

It would be nice to see them go after the people who supply the stuff,
even if they aren't as famous...

Now there's something you think they could do... shouldn't these
containers have a batch number or something and they could track
these.

"Dan Gregory" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Steve McGinty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001 and
2003. He had a total of three treatment sessions in one week," lawyer
Paul-Albert Iwens said.

Damn he must have popped over to Guipuzcoa to take it. So why did he take
the empties back to Biarritz with him?

Maybe he wanted the deposit back on the empties.

"Steve McGinty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

PARIS, France -- World time trial champion David Millar of Britain was
Thursday placed under judicial investigation for illegal possession of
toxic products, his lawyer said.

Millar told a court west of Paris he had used the banned blood booster
erythropoietin (EPO), a fact he admitted during 48 hours of police
custody last week.

"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001 and
2003. He had a total of three treatment sessions in one week," lawyer
Paul-Albert Iwens said.

Judge Richard Pallain brought charges against no one else in the
affair and the 27-year-old rider was released with no restrictions on
his freedom of movement, Iwens added.

After his court appearance, Millar refused comment on his cycling
future, saying only that now was not the right time to talk about it.

Nah, he will wait for another hi profile rider to get caught so the
spotlight won't be so bright on him and then he will offer some kind of lame
condolences or analysis of *that* rider's situation.

What else could make this the wrong time to talk about it? He needs to say
something before he shows his sorry butt at a UCI event.

Quoted message said:

Full article at
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SPORT/07/01/cycling.millar/

Regards!
Stephen

"Richard Adams" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (David N. Welton) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Steve McGinty said:

Judge Richard Pallain brought charges against no one else in the
affair and the 27-year-old rider was released with no restrictions
on his freedom of movement, Iwens added.

It would be nice to see them go after the people who supply the stuff,
even if they aren't as famous...

Now there's something you think they could do... shouldn't these
containers have a batch number or something and they could track
these.

They do, but it would not very likely point to the actual black marketer.
All they would know is where and when it was manufactured and any legal
distribution. After that, the trail would end but at least they could start
an investigation and they likely do. I am sure if they catch anyone we will
hear about it. Don't hold your breath. Those guys that steal the stuff
generally know how to avoid getting caught and they assume the containers
*will* be found. It is not normally some pharmacist that went bad but that
has happened too and when it did we heard about it. I believe some of the
Benelux cases included the entire supply chain. Most illicit cases involve
international shipping (as something else) and are not likely to lead to any
arrests just because the end user gets caught. Some times the suppliers get
caught too, and we just never know they are linked with end users that are
suspected or caught. If they really want to treat this as if it is a really
serious crime on the level of schedule 1 drugs, they could set up a sting
operation or send in deep cover agents, but let's get real. These athlete
cases are not really a concern to the general public in any way (except in
regions where sports betting is allowed and even then, this is pretty
trivial) so let's not expect too much more than we get these days. The busts
are mostly driven by the muck raking journos that publicize suspicious
circumstances and give the local police a virtual road map to the bust. I am
not even sure how I feel about the "war on (serious schedule 1) drugs" and I
would prefer to let the sports governing orgs handle investigations and
sactions.

Steve McGinty said:

PARIS, France -- [snip]

"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001 and
2003. [snip]

Funny how those ampules were IN France.

Quoted message said:

From: "GaryG" garyg@shasta_SPAMBEGONE_software.com

Quoted message said:

Why would a cyclist use EPO? It's my understanding that the same results
(increased hematocrit) can be achieved with so-called "altitude tents".<<

Nope.

"It was the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetrated."
Richard M. Nixon, discussing the Warren Commission Report, May 15, 1972
" [It] is the most bizarre conspiracy in the history of the world. It'll come
out at a future date."
Jack Ruby

Richard Adams said:

Steve McGinty said:

PARIS, France -- [snip]
"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001
and
2003. [snip]

Funny how those ampules were IN France.

Right man.

You got it. It's the lousy Douaniers who are the missing link.

They confiscate the stuff inbound at the borders then peddle it off to make
a few extra Francs.

There oughta be a law against it 🙂

--
le Vent a Dos. Davey Crockett
http://petition.eurolinux.org ; http://members.rogers.com/sixday/sixday.html
Please address all replies to the list

David N. Welton said:

Steve McGinty said:

Judge Richard Pallain brought charges against no one else in the
affair and the 27-year-old rider was released with no restrictions
on his freedom of movement, Iwens added.

It would be nice to see them go after the people who supply the stuff,
even if they aren't as famous...

I thought Gaumont (who millar refered to as a 'nutter'😉 said that Millar
was supplying it to his teammates.

David Off said:

David N. Welton said:

Steve McGinty said:

Judge Richard Pallain brought charges against no one else in the
affair and the 27-year-old rider was released with no restrictions
on his freedom of movement, Iwens added.

It would be nice to see them go after the people who supply the stuff,
even if they aren't as famous...

I thought Gaumont (who millar refered to as a 'nutter'😉 said that Millar
was supplying it to his teammates.

This probably has a lot to do with Millar's silence of late. Using the
stuff is considered sporting fraud, a crime in many coutries of europe,
which could land his butt in jail. Trafficking it is a separate crime,
which could also land his butt in jail. Too bad he can't strike a plea
deal to rat on Gaumont, though he could always finger the people he got
it from, assuming he doesn't find his body full of holes in a bin
someday, because his pals didn't appreciate his candor.

"Dan Gregory" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Steve McGinty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001 and
2003. He had a total of three treatment sessions in one week," lawyer
Paul-Albert Iwens said.

Damn he must have popped over to Guipuzcoa to take it. So why did he take
the empties back to Biarritz with him?

Later
Dan Gregory

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.710 / Virus Database: 466 - Release Date: 23/06/04

It is my understanding that he succomb to the using EPO in 2001 and
2003 but in 2004 he had a renewed faith that he could make it without
the drugs. Kind of like an alcholic keep the bottle from the last beer
he drank. As reminder and a motivator.

Chris said:

They do, but it would not very likely point to the actual black marketer.
All they would know is where and when it was manufactured and any legal
distribution. After that, the trail would end but at least they could start
an investigation and they likely do. I am sure if they catch anyone we will
hear about it. Don't hold your breath. Those guys that steal the stuff
generally know how to avoid getting caught and they assume the containers
*will* be found.

In the US, the unregulated nature of transporting and distributing drugs
has been a huge problem. Drugs haven't been able to be traced back to
the producer. They change hands from distributer to distributer many
times in the worst cases. Only in the last two years has the FDA
realized this and are working actively towards a solution.

Injectables are the easiest drugs to tamper with. The "grey marketeer"
can easily dilute the drug, or replace it completely, and get the profit
on all the diluted product, from the pharmacy, with labels they made on
a pc. They could just as easily pull off half of the injectable drug,
dilute the rest, sell the full strength stuff on the black market, and
pass on the diluted stuff to another distributer. I saw it all on TV
and I confirmed it on the internet, so I know it's all true. Seriously,
though, innocent people are getting hurt:

http://www.biopsychiatry.com/pharmacy/fake-drugs.html

"Doctors couldn't explain why the medicine they were giving Tim Fagan
wasn't working. The 16-year-old boy had been rushed to New York
University Medical Center for an emergency liver transplant last February.

Fagan was given daily injections of a drug called Epogen to treat severe
anemia. But his red blood cell count wasn't improving. And there was
another mystery: Shortly after each injection, the young patient was
getting severe and painful muscle cramps.

After two months of treatments, Fagan and his family received shocking
news. The version of the drug he had received was counterfeit. The small
vials contained only one-twentieth the amount of active ingredient the
label indicated.

"This wasn't a drug someone bought on the street," but rather from a
major national pharmacy chain, said Eric Turkewitz, a New York lawyer
who is representing the Fagans in a pending lawsuit. "The family never
thought for a moment that it was anything but real."

It wasn't. Somewhere between the drug's manufacture and its arrival at
the pharmacy, counterfeiters had taken low-dose vials and relabeled them
as high-dose versions. The weaker drug sells for $22 a bottle. The
high-strength bottle fetches $445. An estimated 110,000 bogus bottles
reached the market without raising suspicions. Investigators say the
counterfeit scheme may have netted criminals a staggering $48 million."

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8145/8145drugs.html

...."Tragically, some of the drugs that have been particular targets of
counterfeiters are expensive products designed for the sickest patients.
Recently, for example, counterfeit Procrit, an antianemia drug, placed
at risk patients severely ill with cancer and AIDS, and counterfeit
Epogen caused grave medical complications for organ transplant
recipients and patients with end-stage kidney disease."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2003-05-14-fakedrug-cover_x.htm

"As more high-priced prescription medications hit the market, they are
proving irresistible to counterfeiters, who have successfully slipped
fake, mislabeled and mishandled drugs into U.S. pharmacies. Some examples:
• Investigators have seized vials of anemia treatments Procrit and
Epogen containing 20 times less active ingredient than labeled.

• AIDS patients who rely on Serostim to prevent muscle wasting have
fallen ill after injecting a fake..."

List of the most likely drugs to be counterfieted or tampered with:

http://www.nabp.net/ftpfiles/NABP01/slsdp.pdf

Official FDA stance and course of action (note, dated Feb 2004, so none
of this is likely to be implemented for a while):

http://www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/counterfeit/report02_04.html

Quoted message said:

These athlete
cases are not really a concern to the general public in any way (except in
regions where sports betting is allowed and even then, this is pretty
trivial) so let's not expect too much more than we get these days.

Nope. Innocent people are getting hurt.

"Steve McGinty" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

PARIS, France -- World time trial champion David Millar of Britain was
Thursday placed under judicial investigation for illegal possession of
toxic products, his lawyer said.

Millar told a court west of Paris he had used the banned blood booster
erythropoietin (EPO), a fact he admitted during 48 hours of police
custody last week.

"Millar said he used EPO during 'treatment' outside France in 2001 and
2003. He had a total of three treatment sessions in one week," lawyer
Paul-Albert Iwens said.

Apparently he has implicated the current medical director of Euskaltel -
that took care of his "medical program" in 2001 ans 2002. This doctor did
not show up today in France for the TdF presentation (maybe he thought he
could get busted). If this allegations are confirmed and the samples taken
from Gorka Gonzalez reveal the use of EPO (apparently his hematocrit was 47)
Madariaga should resign as the haed of the Euskadi foundation and the team
should reevalueate the objectives of the whole entrerprise.

"gym gravity" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Chris said:

They do, but it would not very likely point to the actual black

marketer.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

All they would know is where and when it was manufactured and any legal
distribution. After that, the trail would end but at least they could

start

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

an investigation and they likely do. I am sure if they catch anyone we

will

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

hear about it. Don't hold your breath. Those guys that steal the stuff
generally know how to avoid getting caught and they assume the

containers

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

*will* be found.

In the US, the unregulated nature of transporting and distributing drugs
has been a huge problem. Drugs haven't been able to be traced back to
the producer. They change hands from distributer to distributer many
times in the worst cases. Only in the last two years has the FDA
realized this and are working actively towards a solution.

The laws and enforcement are the responsibility of each state in most cases.
I don't know about the problems you mentioned and I would be interested to
know more. The companies I have worked with were all headquartered in
California. You are right in a sense because there is no centralized federal
database or enterprise system to look at what is going on. Some states do a
very good job of tracking the drugs that are most frequently abused. EPO is
not even a pimple in the scope of issues that these againcies have to be
concerned about. I think in some cases the lot number would reveal the last
legal recipient and in others it would be difficult to trace beyond where
and when the drug was manufactured. The fact is though, that most products
that are regulated by the FDA are manufactured by companies that have a very
high motivation to track production and distribution, but not always to the
point of the end user (or patien). In summary, it is worth looking in to in
cases like Millars but there are no guarantees that it will help identify
who was involved in allowing its availability to illicit users.

Quoted message said:

Injectables are the easiest drugs to tamper with. The "grey marketeer"
can easily dilute the drug, or replace it completely, and get the profit
on all the diluted product, from the pharmacy, with labels they made on
a pc. They could just as easily pull off half of the injectable drug,
dilute the rest, sell the full strength stuff on the black market, and
pass on the diluted stuff to another distributer. I saw it all on TV
and I confirmed it on the internet, so I know it's all true. Seriously,
though, innocent people are getting hurt:

OK, so you know this has happened but how often? I don't think this is a
widespread problem, but I could be wrong. Your point about injectables vs.
tablets and capsules is a valid one.

Quoted message said:

http://www.biopsychiatry.com/pharmacy/fake-drugs.html

"Doctors couldn't explain why the medicine they were giving Tim Fagan
wasn't working. The 16-year-old boy had been rushed to New York
University Medical Center for an emergency liver transplant last February.

Fagan was given daily injections of a drug called Epogen to treat severe
anemia. But his red blood cell count wasn't improving. And there was
another mystery: Shortly after each injection, the young patient was
getting severe and painful muscle cramps.

After two months of treatments, Fagan and his family received shocking
news. The version of the drug he had received was counterfeit. The small
vials contained only one-twentieth the amount of active ingredient the
label indicated.

"This wasn't a drug someone bought on the street," but rather from a
major national pharmacy chain, said Eric Turkewitz, a New York lawyer
who is representing the Fagans in a pending lawsuit. "The family never
thought for a moment that it was anything but real."

It wasn't. Somewhere between the drug's manufacture and its arrival at
the pharmacy, counterfeiters had taken low-dose vials and relabeled them
as high-dose versions.

OK, but are you saying there is no way to investigate and catch the
culprits? I would say that once the problem is discovered, at least some of
the people involved in the illegal activities are going to get caught.

The weaker drug sells for $22 a bottle. The

Quoted message said:

high-strength bottle fetches $445. An estimated 110,000 bogus bottles
reached the market without raising suspicions. Investigators say the
counterfeit scheme may have netted criminals a staggering $48 million."

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8145/8145drugs.html

..."Tragically, some of the drugs that have been particular targets of
counterfeiters are expensive products designed for the sickest patients.
Recently, for example, counterfeit Procrit, an antianemia drug, placed
at risk patients severely ill with cancer and AIDS, and counterfeit
Epogen caused grave medical complications for organ transplant
recipients and patients with end-stage kidney disease."

That is really sad.

Quoted message said:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2003-05-14-fakedrug-co
ver_x.htm

Quoted message said:

"As more high-priced prescription medications hit the market, they are
proving irresistible to counterfeiters, who have successfully slipped
fake, mislabeled and mishandled drugs into U.S. pharmacies. Some examples:
• Investigators have seized vials of anemia treatments Procrit and
Epogen containing 20 times less active ingredient than labeled.

• AIDS patients who rely on Serostim to prevent muscle wasting have
fallen ill after injecting a fake..."

List of the most likely drugs to be counterfieted or tampered with:

http://www.nabp.net/ftpfiles/NABP01/slsdp.pdf

Official FDA stance and course of action (note, dated Feb 2004, so none
of this is likely to be implemented for a while):

http://www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/counterfeit/report02_04.html

Quoted message said:

These athlete
cases are not really a concern to the general public in any way (except

in

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

regions where sports betting is allowed and even then, this is pretty
trivial) so let's not expect too much more than we get these days.

Nope. Innocent people are getting hurt.

I agree that the issue of tracking drugs and ensuring their integrity is a
critical problem. I do not think that athletes are creating the motive. I am
thinking that the criminals are selling to more legal distributors and
pharmacies than they have actually bought. I concede that the information
you presented does make a case for that possibility though.