Illegal Steroids Still for Sale

In "Early Eye" Investigation, Kelly Cobiella Reports Anabolic Steroids Are Still Being Sold in Supplement Stores and Online

(CBS)  Since the first CBS News story aired last March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun to crack down on designer steroids like Tren, but as CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reported on "The Early Show," they're still very available -- and very dangerous.

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Using a hidden camera at a supplement store, Cobiella spoke with an unidentified salesman who, referring to Tren said, "I saw a decent amount of size -- and it leaned me out."

Cobiella says that, since Part One of "The Early Show"'s "Early Eye" investigation on over-the-counter steroids aired Monday, there's been plenty of talk at supplement stores, in gyms and online about so-called "prohormones" such as Tren, including discussions of how they work, and the effect they can have on organs like the liver.

Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings told "The Early Show," "I would guess that 85 percent of the people know exactly what they're doing. There's been too much publicity with regard to this area. They know."

Over-the-Counter Steroids?

However, as Cobiella and her team saw at supplement stores, it's not always easy to tell what's safe, and what may be a dangerous anabolic steroid.

Tyrone LaRose started taking Tren last fall to put on some weight, and to get more serious about bodybuilding and his bench press. The 42-year-old, who is going for his MBA in professional management, said if he had known Tren was an anabolic steroid, he "wouldn't have touched it."

"That's just not me," LaRose said."I don't do drugs, I don't do alcohol and I don't do steroids."

LaRose gained the weight he was looking for, going from 285 pounds to 335.

"At first I thought it was worth it, until I got ill," he said.

LaRose says he took less than the recommended dose -- about five pills a week for three months. Then he developed jaundice so severe his father had to take him to the emergency room.

Norman Edelen, LaRose's father said, "His eyes were almost cat green. And his complexion was terrible."

A biopsy revealed he had severe liver damage.

LaRose is part of a class action lawsuit against American Cellular Labs, the manufacturer of the "Tren Xtreme" product that he says took a heavy toll on his liver, and his skin.

LaRose is not the only one. Dr. Zeid Kayali, a liver transplant specialist at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Calif., was so alarmed about the severe liver damage he saw in a cluster of patients taking Tren, he reported them to the FDA.

Kayali said, "When you see multiple cases in a very short period of time in very healthy people who have no risk factor for liver disease, this is very alarming."

Dr. Don Catlin, a leading anti-doping expert, said, "There's nothing on the label that says your liver is going to rot. It may say somewhere on the small print that if you're an athlete be careful. But many times they don't."

Cobiella and her team had Catlin test the brand of Tren taken by LaRose and two others purchased online and at a supplement store.

Test results confirmed all three were anabolic steroids. All three are illegal supplements under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

So why are they still for sale?

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter told Cobiella, "People assume that they've been cleared by the government by the Food and Drug Administration, which is not so. They're not subject to preclearance."

Specter is working on new legislation to make it easier for the Drug Enforcement Administration to classify designer steroids like Tren as controlled substances, such as heroin or cocaine.

Supplement industry spokesperson Dr. Daniel Fabricant, of the Natural Products Association said, "These folks are criminals. They're not part of the industry, and they need to be enforced against."

But with billions of dollars in profits, Cobiella remarked, it's an uphill battle. She added on "The Early Show" sports supplement marketers are 10 steps ahead of regulators in getting the next designer steroid to market. She said they just tweak a known illegal anabolic steroid by a molecule or two, and market it as a legal dietary supplement.

Are there safe alternatives?

Cobiella said there are protein powders and some other products. However, the alluring thing about Tren, she said, is that it actually works to build up muscles quickly.

But, she added, if you see a product and you're not sure what's in it, do your research. She said that, while these products don't say "steroid" on the package, if you do your research online, you'll know whether they are steroids from what people say about the product on the Internet.

[angelo212]

THis dude took alot more then 5 pills a week. If he took what the bottle said to take he'd be fine. This product is not methylated. He took more then what he was suppose to and for longer then 4 to 6 weeks the bottle tells you take. He's the azzhole that make it bad for everyone else.

[rog13489]

i would say 95 percent of the people taking ph's know what they are taking. If you are taking something that you know nothing about that is your bad. How about the fda looking in to tobacco, and banning nicotine which is actually an addicting drug and is bad. How many people go to the hospital for tobacco related illnesses every year compared to the people on juice or taking a ph. lets get serious here!

[sean66x]

Henry Waxman is a worthless baboon. His bogus investigation revealed his years of muscle atrophy and paranoid schizophrenia. Henry's doctor should inject him with nandrolone and winstrol to relieve his delusions of grandeur.

[jwp008]

This article is worthless. You actually think the FDA would be doing something else worth there time and money instead of taking these supplements off the market. Its ridiculous the woman that wrote this article needs to do some freaking investigating on her own and stop acting so ignorant and not knowing a damn thing about what she's talking about, they get one guy that reacts to tren badly and omg they got to take everything off the market, i mean whats next!! Might as well take PROTEIN off the market too that has a ANABOLIC EFFECT on the body! Chicken has an anabolic effect on the body, do you freaking people at cbs even know what anabolic means? Anabolic simply means muscle building! Thats it! Nothing else. So anything that repairs and rebuilds torn muscle fibers is an anabolic. So might as well ban chicken and fish and every other source of protein off the market as well. I think this is absolutely ridiculous, yes lets ban substances that help get people in shape and leaner and less body fat and get the image they want and look great and be healthy, and then we'll keep mcdonalds available to our young children as the growing EPIDEMIC of OBESITY and TYPE 2 DIABETES in or young sky rockets every freakin year. I'm so happy that Hypertension and Heart Disease grow in the US every year and double and triple as people that take "tren" trenbolone, get into shape and become healthier. Yeah i think we have our priorities right. And just so you know and over the counter drub like tren... reacts to everyone differently. It is not a inject-able steroid, its a precursor and pro-hormone, which means once in the body has to convert chemically!

This article is ******** and the FDA and Government is stupid and ignorant for taking these off the market. You want to educate and help America how about you help by looking at these HUGE food market companies, that put such high sugars and fats and preservatives in foods, that are causing HUGE numbers in overweight and obese individuals.

[bigC79]

I have a very big issue with this report. There is no actual science that went behind this report. Tren is not a steroid, just because it can produce an anabolic affect in the body does not classify the supplement as a steroid. This so called "REPORT" keeps bringing up the fact that it can cause liver damage and that it should be pulled from the shelves and that there is a lawsuit being placed upon the company.

With that being said, look at the affect that acetaminophen (Tylenol) has on the liver. There were hundreds of reports of people have extreme liver damage from taking to much Tylenol or even just the recomended dose. Tylenol is not being pulled from the shelves and there is no lawsuit against them? WEIRD? oh thats right it's because the FDA approved Tylenol.

If you look at 90% of the perscription drugs out there that have very adverse side effects on the body, they're some of the most perscribed by doctors, such as anti-depressents, pain killers, sleep aids....
But yet they are still perscribed at high rates even though people are hallucinating, committing suicide, blood clots, stroke, heart attacks...and the list goes on.

Also how can you classify an otc supplement or even anabolic steroids itself as the same as cocaine and herion? Cocaine is a stimulant and herion is an opiate. And oh yea Morphine is a synthetic form of herion and its not being abolished.

Also you have a blood doping expert testing out the supplement. Blood doping and steroids are two totaly different things. Blood doping is increasing the amount of Hemoglobin in the blood (hemoglobin is what oxygen binds to) before an athletic competition, so that you can carry more oxygen rich blood to working muscles. Also a designer steroid is an anabolic angent that is designed to be harder to show up on any kind of drug test.

Also he said that he would have not taking the supplement it he knew it was a steroid. But obviously he was looking for an anabolic affect if he bought the supplement! Don't get me wrong I do feel bad for the guy having such an adverse side effect from it, but what works fine in one person's body does not mean that it can't harm another.

All this report is another way to crucify the supplement industry, to make anything that a doctor does'nt perscribe you look like it's the most horrible thing out there. Also if you take Milk Thistle which is an herbal supplement it helps detoxify the liver so that you can reduce the chance of side effects...but thats right that would take actaul work to do research.

[rippednation]

Well-said, staticshifter. This is some of the weakest 'investigative reporting' I've seen in a long time. It's no wonder society is so misinformed on the topic of steroids... people like Lyle Izado claim that their brain tumors are caused by steroids and suddenly the media treat it as a professional diagnosis. People like Kelly start calling Tren an 'anabolic steriod' and readers actually believe it and start repeating it.

Here's some news for you, Kelly: anabolic steriods are synthetic hormones. Tren is a pro-hormone, meaning it is not a hormone and therefore NOT AN ANABALIC STEROID. Further, you do nobody a service by using a BS term like "designer steroids." A supplement is either a steroid or it is not. Tren is not. You should be ashamed for promoting this fictional crap.

Is Tren dangerous? Like anything we put into our bodies, certain people will have side effects. I have taken Tren on 4 separate cycles and have my blood/liver tested regularly -- no problems whatsoever. Most of my friends have had the same experience. In other words, it's not Tren that causes liver problems in some people... it's their bodies. Some people's bodies cannot handle lactose... some people's bodies cannot handle Tren. Do we outlaw milk? Nope - we just tell those people to stop drinking it.

This guy in the news piece is a ******** artist. Nobody takes Tren unless they want to put on a lot of muscle. You'll never convince me that he's offended by the supplement's hard-core nature and molecular similarity to steroids. If he was taking an "extreme" supplement without having the common sense to have regular testing done to see how it affects his body, the only person he should be upset with is himself.

In the end, ABC, if you don't know crap about steroids, STOP trying to report on it. This entire investigation is WEAK at best, misleading and libel at worst.

[DeaconGray]

http://www.biggerstrongerfastermovie.com/

Try watching this and educate yourself on the subject.

[DeaconGray]

I have to admit I am a little annoyed with your coverage of the topic. I have noticed in your report you cited no studies, nothing scientific at all to back up the claims that the products like Tren cause the damage you claim, I am guess that is because there are none, only individual complaints from a small number of individuals.


Here are some side effects you might want to be concearned about.

enhances iron absorption,[126] iron poisoning can become an issue to people with iron overload disorders, such as haemochromatosis. This suppliment can cause sufferers to develop hemolytic anemia after ingesting specific oxidizing substances.

There is a longstanding belief among the mainstream medical community that this supplement can cause kidney stones, w[128] Although recent studies have found a relationship,[129] a clear link between excess ascorbic acid intake and kidney stone formation has not been generally established.[130] Some case reports exist for patients with oxalate deposits and a history of high dose vitamin C usage. Discussions of a possible link are given in articles such as [131].
In a study conducted on rats, during the first month of pregnancy, high doses may suppress the production of progesterone from the corpus luteum.[132] Progesterone, necessary for the maintenance of a pregnancy, is produced by the corpus luteum for the first few weeks, until the placenta is developed enough to produce its own source. By blocking this function of the corpus luteum, it is theorized to induce an early miscarriage. In a group of spontaneously aborting women at the end of the first trimester.

hese bothersome side effects may include:

Nausea
Vomiting
Irritation of the esophagus
Heartburn or indigestion
Intestinal cramps
Fatigue
Flushing (redness of the skin)
Headaches
Insomnia
Drowsiness
Diarrhea.
A blood clot in the legs (deep vein thrombosis, or DVT)
Kidney stones
Erosion of the teeth (seen with long-term use of chewable vitamin C tablets)
Worsening of sickle cell disease
Hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells) in people with glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency
Increased aluminum absorption into the body (which can be especially dangerous for people with kidney disease)
Signs of an allergic reaction, such as:

An unexplained rash
Itching
Hives
Swelling of the mouth or throat
Wheezing
Difficulty breathing.

Certainly any supplement that can cause such horrid side effects should be out lawed right?

These are the side effects possible in taking vitamin C.

Steroids, also has possible side effects, the numbers however are less then 5% of users, and less than that have side effects that cause serious health risks.

Most of the evidence against steroid use has been anticdotal in nature, Lyle Alzado did not die from brain cancer linked to steroid use, in fact his own surgeon could find no connection between the two.

Instead of researching the common rhetoric, maybe you should do some research on the real lab results, studies, and long term effects instead of silly bandwagon condemnation based on popular, not scientific, information.

Deacon Gray

[staticshifter]

nice. way to do your research there Kelly. maybe you should actually do some reading instead of "sneaking" into a supplement store with a hidden camera and calling that news. you could try to grab a bottle of, oh let's say tren, and maybe, i dont know, READ THE LABEL!
oh, and it's easy to see what supps are "safe". even the bottles of steroids list whats in them. this isn't rocket science.

then again, ignorance is bliss.