Tiger Woods' drug concerns as doctor hit with charge
Anthony Galea, the Canadian doctor who helped Tiger Woods recover from his knee injury using a pioneering "blood-spinning " technique, has been charged with a number of offences relating to the supply of illegal substances.
Galea is accused of smuggling the substances into the US, conspiring to lie to federal officials, unlawfully distributing human growth hormone, conspiracy to defraud and introduction of an unapproved drug, Actovegin, into interstate commerce. If convicted, Galea could face up to 28 years in jail, as well as fines running into millions of dollars.
The use of HGH is related directly to an unnamed client of Galea's who plays in the US National Football League, but Galea's connection with Woods will raise more questions about the possibility that the golfer has ever taken performance enhancing drugs.
Woods has categorically denied ever taking illegal substances, though he admitted to taking prescribed painkilling drugs in order to deal with his knee injury, and more recently an injury sustained to his neck in the now-notorious car crash last November (which Woods says is unrelated to the current neck problem that forced him to pull out of the Players Championship a few weeks ago, just in case you were wondering).
Woods' former swing coach Hank Haney also weighed in on Woods' rumoured use of banned substances earlier this week, telling the Golf Channel: "There was never anything that went into Tiger Woods' body that didn't come out of his body. I spent 110 days with Tiger a year for six years. I spent probably 40 to 50 nights a year at his house. I've never seen him do any [performance-enhancing drugs]. He has never talked about anything."
Nonetheless, Woods' mere association with Galea, together with a recent history that suggests the 34-year-old's word is not necessarily his bond, is sure to set tongues wagging anew. Woods is currently recovering from an inflamed facet joint in his neck, with his next scheduled tournament the US Open between June 17th - 20th.
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