Kurt Angle continued to deny using anabolic steroids for performance enhancement in a recent interview with Mac Engel for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The 1996 Olympic gold-medal-winning freestyle wrestler, who has established himself as a popular professional wrestler with the WWE and TNA, maintained that he was prescribed a steroid stack comprised of trenbolone acetate (“tren”) and nandrolone decanoate (“Deca Durabolin” or “Deca”) for legitimate medical purposes and not for performance-enhancement purposes.
“Have I taken them before? Yeah. It was in Sports Illustrated. I didn’t get prosecuted but the doctor did because he was prescribing them to me but picking them up illegally,” claimed Angle in the interview published this week. “It was after my neck surgery. I’ve taken them before but I am not now.”
A Drug Enforcement Administation (DEA) investigation codenamed “Operation Netroids” uncovered steroid use by numerous athletes including Kurt Angle in April 2007. The DEA raided Applied Pharmacy Services, a compound pharmacy in Mobile (Alabama) that specialized in hormone-based drugs, and seized their client records.
Sports Illustrated reviewed classified intelligence dossiers compiled by the DEA and published the names of several athletes who purchased steroids, human growth hormone (hGH) and ancillary drugs from Applied Pharmacy. They reported that Angle had two prescriptions for trenbolone and two prescriptions for nandrolone filled at Applied Pharmacy. Angel was never prosecuted as a result of the Operation Netroids investigation which only targeted compounding pharmacies and physicians.
Kurt Angle has consistently denied that his use of doctor-prescribed trenbolone and nandrolone was improper or illegal. His first denial appeared in an official statement published on his website in response to the SI article:
“I did not improperly receive prescriptions. It is well documented that in my career I have broken vertebrae in my neck on five occasions and each time the course of treatment was under the care and supervision of my doctors,” wrote Angle in a statement posted on his official website. “Any attempt to link me to the athletes in the current news accounts who may have improperly sought performance-enhancing drugs is without foundation.”
In April 2009, police arrested Angle after they found two vials of Hygetropin brand human growth hormone in his car. All charges against Angle were eventually dismissed. Once again, Angle claimed that his use of performance-enhancing drugs was “legal” and properly prescribed by a physician according to a statement by his attorney following the incident:
“As for the allegations of driving under suspension and possession of prescription drugs; simply stated, the drugs are properly prescribed by his physician. They are legal.”
Angle may not realize that a doctor’s prescription does not necessarily make the use of anabolic steroids or hGH legal. If the prescription is determined to be invalid, then the use of drugs obtained with an invalid prescription is also considered illegal. Nonetheless, it is also advised that the use of anabolic steroids be used under the supervision of a physician.
Source:
Engel, M. (September 13, 2011). Big Mac Blog chat with Kurt Angle on the Olympics, Warrior, & steroids. Retrieved from http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/mac-engel/2011/09/big-mac-blog-chat-with-kurt-angle-on-the-olympics-warrior-steroids.html
