Blood test for Human Growth Hormones introduced in Baseball
Commissioner of Major League Baseball Bud Selig announced on Thursday, 22 July, that Major League Baseball is expanding its drug testing program to include blood testing. Effective immediately, minor league players would be subjected to random blood testing aimed at detecting the use of Human Growth Hormones.
This would be the first time that blood tests are being introduced in any North American Sport. The minor league is not part of the Major League Baseball Players Association, and thus Bud Selig was able to push the program through the MLB without their approval. MLBPA has previously opposed blood testing. So far there is no word on when, if at all, testing would be applied to the Major Leagues.
Selig said that the move would be an example for all drug testing in the future and represents a significant step forward in detection and prevention of Human Growth Hormones in baseball. Selig has come under a lot of criticism for failing to act to stop the growing use of steroid and other banned substances in the league. Since then, Selig has pushed the MLBPA to enforce a stricter drug testing policy and has taken another step towards redemption with the introduction of blood testing.
There is still a long way to go, though. The substance has been banned by baseball since 2005, but as of yet there is no way to detect the use of HGH in baseball or any another American Sport due to the lack of any kind of testing for HGH.
The announcement to introduce HGH testing in the minor league was initially made in February. How effective testing would prove to be is still a matter of debate. The type of test being introduced is limited in its utility, since blood tests can detect HGH only within 24 to 48 hours of use. The test also has a high false positive rate. The odds of a random blood test occurring within 24 to 48 hour of intake are not very good.
The most well known instance of blood testing detecting HGH was when British rugby player Terry Newton tested positive. However, that was not exactly a ‘random’ test. Authorities were tipped off earlier that Terry had acquired significant quantities of HGH. The blood test works, but it was still only able to catch only one player in many years of testing. As a deterrent, it’s not as effective as one would think.
Anything is better than nothing though, and for years ‘nothing’ has all there’s been in terms of HGH testing. Even if not particularly effective, fans would still be spared the absurdity of banning a substance but having no conceivable way of detecting its use. The National Centre for Drug Free Sport, which already conducts the standard urine tests, would be tasked with conducting random blood tests. Selig is following a model that worked for him before. Steroid testing too was first introduced in the minor league and in time the players union had no choice but to allow it in the Major League.
Following the same pattern, there have been negotiations with the MLB Players Association. Rob Manfred, one of baseball’s top drug enforcement official, has been leading the talks and according to him, the players association has been ‘proactive’ and looked at the scientific issues involved. Translation: It has been trying to find a way out of blood testing.
That would be more difficult to do now that a test exists and would be implemented in the minor league. In all likelihood, Selig would push the issue with full force when the next collective bargaining agreement comes up.
Selig would be hoping that at least one minor leaguer gets caught with HGH in his blood, because making the argument for frequent blood testing to the Players’ Union won’t be easy. The lone Terry Newton positive won’t be enough to convince the Players’ Union of the effectiveness of the test, and Selig needs the union to sign off on rather frequent blood test if they are to be a real deterrent. Let’s wait for the CBA.
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