Dr. Phil Astin thread

[Bix]

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=20061

 

--If the revelation that Chris Benoit was getting ten months worth of steroids every three to four weeks from Dr. Phil Astin is accurate, it is beyond devastating for WWE. U.S. attorney David Nahmias reported that on average, Benoit was getting a ten month supply of steroids every three to four week during a period from May 4, 2006, and May 9, 2007, from Dr. Astin. The April 10, 2007, drug test that Benoit passed was right in the middle of that period, which is why this charge is the most devastating to the company since the deaths themselves.

 

Whether fair or not, to the public, it is a complete credibility loss when it comes to the drug policy that the company can't afford at this time. And quite frankly, since Benoit was regularly tested during this entire one year period, it is impossible to have confidence in the drug policy with the release of this information. Benoit was off for several months in 2006 and likely not tested during this period, but he should have been tested at least four times minimum during a period it would appear he was taking heavy doses of steroids. As noted in this week's issue, he and his wife were arguing over his increased use of steroids at the same time he was subject to a drug testing policy.

 

The announcement that Benoit passed his 4/10 steroid test, even if he did, is one that can't hold up to public opinion with the revelation in this indictment, because it covers a period well into the Wellness policy. A key point of this is unlike with Balco, where they were using designer drugs that could beat the tests, Astin was prescribing Benoit regular steroids, so either the testing is incredibly flawed, Benoit had a way to easily beat the tests, or the tests themselves were a sham. I strongly believe the latter is not the case, but I also believe the latter will be the conclusion most will come to. This is the first time when I truly fear that wrestling as we know it not only will be undergoing great changes, but that as bad as Vince McMahon's reputation is in some circles, and even with his history of rebounding from negatives, this will tarnish it to a level that he may never live to fully turn around. There will be a far increased number of cries in the media over the next week, which have already started, to do something about the industry. Between the advertisers, sponsors, and those action figures with the muscular physiques, this is not a story going away soon.

 

--Astin was indicted on seven federal counts of distributing painkillers in an illegal manner, as in for reasons other than the treatment of disease. The names of people he is accused of doing this with were not released. It is not known whether any of the people named in the sealed indictment are pro wrestlers, but it is known Chris Benoit is not one of them. The raid of Astin's office included looking at medical records to see if he was appropriately prescribing steroids to Benoit. The indictment regarded prescribing drugs like percoset, vidoprofen, xanax, lorcet and adderall to men with initials M.J. and O.G.

 

--Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of all property and proceeds Astin obtained through his conduct if he is convicted.

 

--Prosecutor Scott Ballard of Fayette County stated he currently has no plans on filing any charges against anyone involved in the case.

 

--In the second raid of Dr Astin's office, Federal agents removed huge amounts of material including filled up boxes, computer and entire file cabinets.

 

--WWE told Newsday today that it will make any improvements necessary in its Wellness policy, but didn't give any details. The company today said its policy is one of the most aggressive in sports and that it is unique for an entertainment company. They said the policy sends a clear message the company finds the abuse of drugs and steroids to be unacceptable. However, based on who they push, one could say there are more than just mixed messages out there.

 

--Konnan and Alex Marvez both appear on Nancy Grace tonight. As most of you know, Konnan is facing a kidney transplant that is likely related later this week.

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=20062

 

More details come out in Astin case

 

Brief notes from the press conference about Dr. Astin's arrest and indictment...

 

-Records show that Dr. Astin prescribed over 1 million doses of numerous drugs over the past two years, many of them prescription painkillers and anabolic steroids, and many of the prescriptions were un-dated, which is illegal in and of itself.

 

-Quote from federal agent giving the press conference: ""Dr. Astin allegedly prescribed these drugs like candy.""

 

-Another quote from federal agent giving the press conference: ""Dirty doctors should be on notice that they face federal prosecution and federal prison time.""

 

--The agent also said, "Alleged in the complaint that Dr. Astin prescribed a very large amount of anabolic steroids to Chris Benoit," including a new ten-month supply of anabolic steroids every 3 to 4 weeks.

 

-Dr. Astin was arrested and subsequently released on $125,000 secured bond with numerous conditions, including surrendering his medical license and agreeing to home detention with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet.

 

-Investigators are still searching through Dr. Astin's record, and there were lots of questions that yielded "no comment" responses. U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said additional charges are ossible as they have "voluminous" records to search through.

 

--Astin's attorney, Manny Arora, is the same attorney who is representing Adam "Pacman" Jones of the Tennessee Titans. He is well known in Atlanta for representing prominent athletes, and worked with Ed Garland representing Ray Lewis in his murder trial.

 

--New Jack was on WSB-TV in Atlanta saying he has used steroids, knows who does and doesn't and that the guys all have a doctor they can call 24/7 to get them. He said he was good friends with Nancy is mad at Chris.

[Guest teke184]

Since "OG" and "MJ" have both been identified as men, that's probably narrowed the individuals in the indictment down to Rey Mistero Jr. (Oscar Gutierrez) and either Marty Jannety or Mark Jindrak.

 

 

No other major male wrestlers come to mind with those same initials, and all three worked for WCW, which was based in Atlanta.

[sek69]

In one swoop this pretty much destroys any and all defense the WWE has come up with and has revealed the Wellness Policy to be a huge embarrassment to the company.

 

Surprisingly, no one I've seen has made the connection between the drug testing being a joke and the Chairman of the company being jacked out of his gourd. The Muscle and Fitness cover alone would come back to haunt him right about now.

[Bix]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years...071benoit1.html

 

DEA Knew Of Benoit's Excessive Steroid Buys

Killer wrestler bought 10-month anabolic supply every few weeks

 

JULY 2--Wrestler Chris Benoit was identified by Drug Enforcement Administration agents as an "excessive purchaser of injectable steroids" who, over the past year, was prescribed a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids every three to four weeks by a Georgia doctor who was indicted today on federal charges. Benoit, who last week murdered his wife and son before committing suicide, came to the attention of DEA agents probing RX Weight Loss, a Marietta company. It was during that investigation, which is "currently being prosecuted in the Northern District of Georgia," that narcotics agents discovered the World Wrestling Entertainment performer's steroid purchases, according to a June 29 search warrant affidavit (an excerpt of which you'll find below). The warrant was executed at the home of Phil Astin, Benoit's doctor. In the affidavit, DEA Agent Anissa Jones reports that pharmacy records show that, from May 2006 to May 2007, Astin prescribed Benoit, on average, "a 10-month supply of anabolic steroids...every three to four weeks." Astin, the affidavit notes, has been the "subject of concern for excessive and/or suspicious prescribing activity" by local police and pharmacies. Astin, 52, was named today in a seven-count indictment charging him with the illegal distribution of substances like Percocet and Xanax between April 2004 and September 2005. A preliminary DEA review of Astin's prodigious prescription writing has revealed that he "authorized approximately one million dosage units of various pharmaceutical controlled substances in the last two years." These scrips included "significant quantities" of an injectable anabolic steroid, reported Jones.

[sek69]

Bix, how many times were one or both of us involved in the "who's on steroids" threads that would pop up on DVDVR and mention Benoit, only to get shouted down by people who would post his workout schedule and go on about how it's COMPLETELY POSSIBLE to be that ripped despite traveling most days of the week?

 

I know it's unlikely at this point, but what more is it going to take to make people deal with their own bullshit when it comes to the truth about their favorite pro wres fighter?

[Guest STAN]

Since "OG" and "MJ" have both been identified as men, that's probably narrowed the individuals in the indictment down to Rey Mistero Jr. (Oscar Gutierrez) and either Marty Jannety or Mark Jindrak.

 

 

No other major male wrestlers come to mind with those same initials, and all three worked for WCW, which was based in Atlanta.

Mark Jindrak is supposedly Jacob Marcus Jindrak according to Wikipedia.

[Bix]

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=20072

 

Dr. Phil Astin's lawyer, Manny Arora, claimed his client never prescribed steroids to Chris Benoit during their six-year doctor/patient relationship.

 

The government claimed yesterday that Astin was prescribing ten months worth of steroids to Benoit every three to four weeks over a one-year period.

Note to self: Don't hire a lawyer that's not aware of any stupid things I said to the media.

[Bix]

Something from the new F4W Re: the wellness policy I haven't seen elsewhere:

 

As it turns out, the two biggest loopholes were things I'd never heard about. First, it is being reported that the WWE drug tests are such that the talent is given as much as a one-hour warning before the test is administered. This greatly increases a person's ability to pass a test through nefarious means, whether it be by substituting urine, doping or diluting the sample. The second major, major loophole is that the Wellness policy allows for testosterone replacement therapy. Benoit had been to Astin in the past to talk about TRT. TRT is a very legitimate form of medical treatment for men, usually but not always past age 40, suffering from low levels of testosterone. For bodybuilders, getting a TRT prescription is a holy grail, because you not only are taking something you've been legally prescribed by a doctor, but you're also taking something of pharmaceutical quality, unlike what you might get from the guy selling stuff out of the trunk of his car behind the gym. The key is to find a way to lower your natural testosterone levels prior to going in and seeing the doctor with a complaint that you're feeling lethargic and depressed. One way to do it is to come off a steroid cycle and allow your natural levels to crash. Basically, when you add synthetic testosterone to your body, your body naturally stops producing testosterone on its own. Many people have heard the statement throughout the years that steroids "shrink your dick", but the reality is that because the natural production of testosterone stops the testicles actually shrink. When a person comes off steroids, unless they take other drugs to speed up the process it takes awhile for the testicles to start producing testosterone again on their own (and sometimes they resume production at lower levels than before a person started on steroids). If you can schedule a doctor's appointment around the time when your natural levels have plunged, you can easily get a prescription for straight testosterone. Other methods including taking certain drugs (19-Norandrostenedione, also illegal, has been mentioned) for a period of 8 to 10 weeks, and then just prior to the doctor's visit go several days where you fast and limit your sleep (which naturally lowers testosterone), and then take a birth control pill the day of the visit (which should spike estrogen levels). In other words, if a drug policy allows TRT, it allows individuals to use a number of tricks to legally get prescriptions for straight testosterone. Of course, one could ask how a doctor could look at a guy who is 250 pounds of bulging muscle with less than 10% bodyfat and not think there is something weird about his testosterone levels being far lower than your average fat banker, but you also have to consider that Astin is far from the only doctor in this country who has autographed pictures of wrestlers on his wall.

[sek69]

We all kind of figured it would end up that way, but it's undeniably clear now that the "Wellness Policy" was nothing more than a empty PR move in response to Eddy's dying while under contract. It kind of makes you wonder if the people who failed were stupid or set up by the company, as it seems that a brain damaged chimp could find a way to beat the testing.

 

It's going to be interesting if WWE loses any sponsors or TV due to this.

[Jingus]

One semi-insider told me that the failed test firings were basically just an excuse to can that person, the real reason was often something else entirely.

[Loss]

What non-drug related reason would they have for wanting to get rid of Joey Mercury?

[Bix]

What non-drug related reason would they have for wanting to get rid of Joey Mercury?

Or Kurt Angle?

 

Keep in mind guys they thought were in imminent danger of ODing were fired pre-wellness policy anyway.

[Guest teke184]

What non-drug related reason would they have for wanting to get rid of Joey Mercury?

Or Kurt Angle?

 

Keep in mind guys they thought were in imminent danger of ODing were fired pre-wellness policy anyway.

 

It depended on the situation in some cases...

 

 

Road Dogg was apparently coked out of his mind on-air a few times before admitting his addiction to Vince. That's a firing.

 

Eddie's buddies told management about his problems, sent him to rehab, then he got a DUI afterwards. That's a firing.

 

Brian Christopher got popped with drugs at an international border. Oh, you better BELIEVE that's a firing.

 

 

 

Most of the big "Fire this guy before he ODs on our watch" cases I can think of were from the early to mid 1990s, like Kerry Von Erich, X-Pac in his 1-2-3 Kid days, Louie Spicoli, etc.

[sek69]

I think a case can be made that Angle was let go for general craziness as well as drugs. since I got the vibe that WWE thought Kurt was going to do what Benoit ended up doing. Wanting to keep working despite having severe muscle tears is abnormal behavior to say the least.

[Bix]

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=20077

 

--There is a huge story in today's New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2007-07-03_slamming_roids.html largely based on an interview with Konnan. He talked about being at Eddy Guerrero's funeral and said that was his breaking point. He asked for Congress or some legislative branch to step in and regulate the industry. It's a must-read article. Gary Davis said in response that wrestlers are neither encouraged or forced to use steroids in WWE. Nobody is "FORCED," but if you look at how Smackdown and Raw ended this week, if you think people aren't encouraged based on who is pushed to look an unnatural way, you have to be blind. The fact they did it on TV on Friday and Monday either show cluelessness or arrogance. Everyone in the company I've had contact with (admittedly only a handful) over the past few days said that when it comes to putting Batista and Lashley over on both shows this week, that everyone thinking the same thing that everyone on the Internet was writing. As for why, people were split between cluelessness and arrogance, but nobody could even offer any defense. The story said a veteran congressional staffer said nobody is planning on any hearings to look at the pro wrestling industry.

 

--Chris Benoit's mother, Margaret Benoit, said she wonders if her son would still be alive if federal agents had been more aggressive when they found out the large quantity of steroids he had been purchasing. Story is at www.timesdaily.com/article/20070704/APA/707040723&cachetime=5

 

--Jerry McDevitt appeared last night on both Scarborough Country and Greta Von Sustern on FNC, while Ultimate Warrior was on Hannety & Colmes. McDevitt ended up coming off terribly on Scarborough Country, as other guests dismissed the WWE drug testing program as a joke, citing the elevated testosterone ratio as being a positive (not as big an issue as has been played up in some stories, but it is something) and that you can pass the test if you have steroids but have a prescription (which is a major issue).

 

At this point, trying to deny the death rate even though only five men have died in the last ten years under contract kills credibility because if you look at every PPV show in WWE history, there are only a few where at least one person on the show isn't dead. There are many deaths of people in their early and mid-40s, a few years after they left WWE, with drugs having played a part, and they picked up those habits in the industry. It's not only a WWE problem, it is an industry problem, the life expectancy of WWE wrestlers is a terrible issue.

 

Marc Mero then held up a list of 25 men he had wrestled who are now dead, and noted almost all had worked in WWE. Another point that could come back to bite WWE's credibility is McDevitt portraying that as far as he knows, no other WWE wrestler saw Dr. Phil Astin. Benoit was referred to Astin by the Atlanta wrestlers who frequented him long before Benoit moved there. Numerous wrestlers not only in Atlanta, but some who reside nowhere near Atlanta, were "patients" of Astin. I will say McDevitt came across far better than Astin's lawyer, who was the ultimate in slime.

 

Warrior had some good points, but his delivery was from outer space and 99% of the people watching him likely thought he was a raving lunatic. Steve Blackman went from a few days ago saying he didn't use steroids after almost dying from a reaction to them, to saying he had never used them in his life. Where Mero made WWE look horrible was saying in his entire time there, he was only tested twice, and he was never monitored while testing. The former statement isn't as bad as it sounds, because he got there just as WWE was dropping testing in 1996. However, never being monitored while giving the sample, and that would be as late as 1996, more than four years after the first round of testing (which all wrestlers I've spoken to from the period believed was legitimate) would make the process a sham.

 

By the end of that segment, after McDevitt left, the credibility of the WWE testing was blown to smithereens. McDevitt also gave the illusion of an argument by saying Davey Boy Smith didn't have steroids in his system when he died, as if that proves anything. You don't overdose and die from steroids like pain pills or cocaine. The damage is generally from long-term use and abuse. If Benoit's toxicology reports shows no steroids in his system, it will be seen by WWE as vindication and will kill the roid rage folks. At the same time, the roid rage argument has been contradicted by every steroid expert in the country as well as police, whether he has stuff in his system or not. However, Benoit did use stuff for probably 20 years or more, and used high doses, so no matter what toxicology shows, steroids could have played a small part in his depression, along with dozens of other factors.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_spo...ming_roids.html

 

Slamming 'roids

 

Ex-star out to break drugs' hold on WWE

 

BY CHRISTIAN RED and T.J. QUINN

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS

 

Wednesday, July 4th 2007, 2:20 AM

 

 

Three days after professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero was found in his Minneapolis hotel room, dead at 38 from heart failure, Carlos (Konnan) Ashenoff stood at his friend's funeral and had an epiphany.

 

"For me, that was it," Ashenoff says, remembering the November 2005 funeral in Arizona. "All these guys are dying and nobody gives a ----."

 

Ashenoff says he swore off a culture of steroids, painkillers and drugs that was so over-the-top that he and his pals used to keep a "dead pool" with their rowdier friends' names on it, knowing it wouldn't be long before someone collected.

 

Ashenoff, a legend from his days in the Mexican circuits and a one-time World Championship Wrestling champion, is 43 and semi-retired now, with an artificial hip in his side and a kidney transplant in his near future. The hip degenerated after years of steroid abuse and the physical toll of his sport, and he thinks painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs ruined the kidney.

 

In the wake of Chris Benoit's murder-suicide rampage, Ashenoff says he is tired of waiting for wrestling to fix itself. Ashenoff wants Congress, state legislatures, anyone with some authority, to step in and force professional wrestling to deal with the drugs that are killing performers at an astonishing rate.

 

"Everybody - I can guarantee you, 100% from top to bottom - everybody's either on steroids, painkillers, they drink or they take recreational drugs, and in the case of half the guys, all four," he says from his home in Chula Vista, Calif. "Nobody gives a ----. When that baseball player (Orioles pitcher Steve) Bechler died from ephedra, everybody got all upset and reacted and they banned ephedra. (In wrestling), it's all these guys - big names - and, nothing."

 

Since Benoit's death, the Internet has been awash in lists of wrestlers who have died prematurely. One blogger compiled a list of 98 men and women under the age of 65 who have died since 1985, and he limited the list to names that wrestling fans would recognize. There were accidents, such as Owen Hart's fatal fall from a harness in 1999, but steroid and drug use seemingly have played a part in the overwhelming majority.

 

Ashenoff is angry about how professional wrestling treats the living, too. His friends and fans helped find a donor and raised money for a transplant operation through the Web site "MySpace." He's meeting with a potential donor within the next week, and plans to have the operation in Mexico to save money.

 

(See Ashenoff's MySpace page )

 

Ashenoff recently was interviewed about wrestling's problems on cable television, and several friends in the business called him to complain. He estimates that "80 to 90%" of active wrestlers agree with him, but they know only the biggest, most freakish wrestlers are "pushed" into the limelight, and they don't want to risk alienating themselves from the WWE and its owner, Vince McMahon, by speaking out against the drug culture.

 

"In our business it was almost like 'omerta,' like in the Mafia. You don't snitch," Ashenoff says. "They say 'you're burying the industry.' I'm like, '---- you guys. Guys are dying, they're leaving families. If anything, I'm trying to make changes to our ---- sport so that Vince won't force you to take steroids."

 

McMahon and WWE officials have long maintained that they don't force anyone to take steroids, and McMahon was acquitted of charges in 1994 that he provided steroids to his wrestlers. The WWE instituted a steroid testing program after Guerrero's death, but doping experts have ridiculed it as all but toothless. Ashenoff says a close friend of his echoed the company line the other day. "He said what they always say: it's a personal choice. Nobody put a gun to our head. I said, 'Bro, it's impossible for a human being to do what we do without taking what we take. Our brothers are dying.' I said, 'Name one guy who isn't on something.' He couldn't think of anybody."

 

Ashenoff was friends with Benoit, and says he saw nothing to indicate that Benoit was capable of killing his wife and his son. "That isn't roid rage," he says. "It could be GHB (or its brutal withdrawal process), it could be undiagnosed concussions — all those chair shots to the head. It could be anything."

 

A veteran congressional staffer says no one is planning hearings on professional wrestling — whether as a workplace safety, public health or interstate commerce issue — but Ashenoff knows what he would say if called to testify.

 

"No. 1, make sure steroids are out of the equation: you aren't rewarded for using, you're punished for using," he says. "No. 2, with painkillers it's a little harder, but you rotate guys, let them rest, so they're not constantly on the road. Then say, 'You can only have this amount of painkiller in your body. That would cut back on the painkiller use. Right now nothing's being done."

 

Gary Davis, a spokesman for WWE, says Ashenoff is wrong, that wrestlers are not encouraged or forced to use steroids.

 

"Not in the WWE," he says.

 

Davis indicates that the WWE is preparing a wide-ranging statement to deal with the Benoit fallout and the sudden, overwhelmingly negative mainstream attention wrestling has received, but when asked about potential congressional intervention he says, "I really don't want to talk about that at this point."

 

Ashenoff says he knows by speaking out he has eliminated the possibility of lucrative work with the WWE in his future. But he'll continue to encourage other wrestlers to do the same, although he knows what he's up against.

 

"The money's too good," he says of WWE life. "And they're the big show in town. Someone's going to have to do something."

[Cox]

We all kind of figured it would end up that way, but it's undeniably clear now that the "Wellness Policy" was nothing more than a empty PR move in response to Eddy's dying while under contract. It kind of makes you wonder if the people who failed were stupid or set up by the company, as it seems that a brain damaged chimp could find a way to beat the testing.

I'm not sure Kurt Angle is smarter than a brain-damaged chimp.

[Guest teke184]

Meltzer has posted that TMZ.com has officially revealed the names of the "OG" and "MJ" in this case.

 

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=20087

 

 

 

As feared, "OG" is Oscar Gutierrez (Rey Misterio Jr.).

 

"MJ" is Mark Jindrak and NOT Marty Jannetty or anyone else that had been suspected.

 

 

 

This revelation is a potential big problem, as Rey is one of the big faces of the company and, like Benoit, received a big multi-PPV push including a Royal Rumble win and a WWE title win at Wrestlemania.

 

 

He says that Mark Madden had already outed Rey's name on his radio show 2 nights ago, but that no one had officially named Jindrak as the second wrestler until now.

[Loss]

I really, really hope TMZ has confirmed this and isn't just running with Internet rumors based on initials.

[Guest teke184]

I can't find where TMZ.com ever put up an article on this.

 

They DID publish that Astin was getting popped by the Feds, but not who the people in the indictment are.

[Bix]

TMZ mysteriously deleted the article.

[Guest teke184]

TMZ mysteriously deleted the article.

Translation: They got legal threats over it.

 

 

The question is whether Da Meltz gets threatened for repeating what TMZ had said, since he could also find tapes of Mark Madden's show in order to prove he had multiple sources on Rey's involvement.

[Bix]

Meltzer worded his update very carefully.

[Guest teke184]

Meltzer has since pulled his post, most likely because TMZ had spiked the post that spawned his story.

[sek69]

I can't see how OG could be anyone but Rey, both from the uniqueness of the initials (does anyone else have "OG"?) and from the fact that Rey looked like a 12 year old boy when he first came to WCW and now (as it was said on DVDVR of all places) he's basically Lashley minus a foot of height.

[Guest teke184]

Everyone who saw those initials and knew Rey's real name put 2 and 2 together.

 

 

The more questionable part is whether MJ is definitely Jindrak instead of someone else like Marty Jannetty.

 

Considering that Jindrak is a tall roid-monster who was a long-time Power Plant guy, he's a natural choice to think of for something like this.

 

Jannetty has tested a lot of foreign substances in his time, but he was pretty much out of the business when these scripts were issued by the doctor. (Hell, he may have been in the Florida pen at the time.)