Monthly Archives: August 2015

Banned Sports Doping Agents and Illegal Drugs Marketed as Dietary Supplements on Amazon.com

Designer steroids and prohormones, Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs), growth hormone secretagogues, and new blood doping agents like FG-4592 all available to athletes and consumers through the online retailer, often under the guise of dietary supplements

The media has been swarming over possible concerns about Amazon’s poor treatment of its employees. Apparently there is less scrutiny on the products the retpillsailer has available for sale. Those interested in anti-doping and drugs in sport wonder how athletes manage to get their hands on banned doping agents to enhance their performance. One simple answer, products masquerading as dietary supplements on Amazon.com.

For years we have marveled at the easy access to steroids and other drugs via Amazon.com, and have written blog posts about it in 2010, 2011, 2013 and assisted with a Slate article in May 2014. Anabolic steroids like methasterone, new drugs like the SARM Ostarine, prescription drugs, and more have all been available. Ever since we realized the prevalence of doping agents on the site, some of which were on the list of DEA Controlled Substances, we have tracked the issue further.

We recently circled back again to see how Amazon has responded, especially after the passage of the new Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act in December 2014 (DASCA). We applaud our friends at the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) for promoting this bill and the government for finally enacting stronger regulations in this arena.

So what is still available at Amazon.com in the way of sports doping agents, or designer drugs? Plenty. This week, a search for prohormones brings up 94 items. When we were here a week ago there were 96, and it went up to 97 while we were exploring, so the list is constantly in flux. Having reviewed the offerings before, and being reasonably familiar with the products, we focused our review on a few items of interest. It is good that we are familiar, because for some of these potentially dangerous products, which presume to be dietary supplements, no information is provided about the ingredients.

Real problems remain. Blackstone Labs Alpha-1 Max, the product description on Amazon merely says, “Great product.” Visiting Strong Supplement Shop online, you find the product, label information and the ingredient, 20mg of Methyl-1-Etiocholenolol-Epietiocholanolone. This drug is otherwise known in the vernacular as Alpha One, Methyl-1-AD, or Methyl-1-Alpha. PubChem lists it as Epietiocholanolone with 43 depositor-supplied-synonyms, so the naming conventions are broad for this one compound, which is part of the challenge in tracking it and others like it.

If you Google the drug name, many links come up. Just pick one and an explanation like the following appears: “Methyl-1-Etiocholenolol-Epietiocholanolone, aka Methyl 1-AD, M1A, or Alpha One is one of the strongest designer steroid/prohormone compounds on the market.” Alpha-1 Max is not alone, Xtreme Alpha-1 contains the same drug, according to the Amazon product description.

The list of steroidal products available on Amazon continues with Xtreme Shed. Strong Supplement Shop has a version of the same product which is no longer available due to the prohormone ban in 2014. According to the Amazon product description Xtreme Shed includes: “(3,3-azo-17a-methyl-5a-androstan-17b-ol) 20mg (6a-Chloro-androst-4-en-17b-ol-3-one) 30mg”. The first ingredient is known as methyldiazirinol, the second hexadrone. Both are prohormones or designer steroids. The StrongSupplementShop listing for Xtreme Shed says the product contained 4-chloro-17a-methyl-androst-4-en-17b-ol3-one, otherwise known as methylclostebol.

Methylclostebol is a steroid that was added to the DEA Controlled Substances list under the DASCA legislation, probably why Xtreme Shed was discontinued at Strong Supplement Shop. The two compounds in Xtreme Shed on Amazon are not listed by name in the DASCA language. Perhaps the one on Amazon is a new version with the ingredients adjusted in hopes of getting around the DASCA legislation? If you thought the prohormone and designer steroid era was over, think again.

It doesn’t stop there. SARMs, a new category of developing drugs that aim to mimic the effects of anabolic steroids, remain available on Amazon.com in offerings like EPG OstaLean, or Osta, or Osta Laxogen. The names and product information suggest they contain the drug Ostarine, which appears on the WADA Prohibited List. Its scientific name is Enobosarm with a long name, (2S)-3-(4-cyanophenoxy)-N-[4-cyano-3-(Trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-2-hydroxy-2-methylpropanamide). In the case of Osta and Osta Laxogen, the Amazon product descriptions include the long name, the same way it is written in an FDA warning letter from December 11, 2014 addressing the sale of the SARM by another company.

Interestingly, if you purchase Osta the order is fulfilled by Amazon. What does it mean to be fulfilled by Amazon? According to the site, “Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you’ll especially enjoy.” So, in the case of Osta, fulfilled by Amazon apparently means that the product is currently inventoried in an Amazon warehouse, with Amazon shipping and providing customer service, all for a product described to contain a drug that the FDA has issued a warning letter against previously.

The FDA wrote the following in its warning letter, “androgenic modulator products are unapproved new drugs sold in violation of sections 505(a) and 301(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) [21 U.S.C. §§ 355(a) and 331(d)] and are misbranded drugs sold in violation of sections 502 and 301(a) [21 U.S.C. §§ 352 and 331(a)] of the FDCA”. It goes on to say that SARMs, “are not dietary supplements.”

A Maxim magazine article focused on the popularity of SARMs, secretagogues and other unapproved drugs sold as supplements earlier this year. The DEA’s position on SARMs after the passage of DASCA is represented as follows in the article: “The way the statute is written, we have to be able to demonstrate a substance is chemically and pharmaceutically similar to testosterone,” says DEA spokesman Joseph Moses. “That makes them incapable of being controlled under the term anabolic steroid.” Nonetheless, SARMs certainly don’t qualify as legal dietary supplement ingredients, hence the FDA’s warning letter.

Unfortunately, the list of doping agents available at Amazon.com does not stop with steroids and SARMs. Blackstone Labs MK Ultra contains the drug Ibutamoren, also known as MK-677, according to the label and product information found elsewherefg-4592. Ibutamoren Ibutamoren is in development for the treatment of growth disorders; in the doping realm it is known as a growth hormone secretagogue. Growth hormone secretagogues are listed generally on the WADA Prohibited List, but this specific drug does not appear yet by name. Even the new blood doping agent FG-4592 can be found on Amazon.com, although it is not currently available from the listed supplier nor is it clear if it is offered as a dietary supplement.

Athletes don’t need any kind of clandestine network to get sports doping agents; all they need is Amazon. The reality is banned and unapproved new drugs are at our finger tips often pretending to be dietary supplements. If you don’t believe this is a problem, picture a 16-year-old kid unknowingly buying a potent anabolic steroid on Amazon that can cause serious health issues, like Alpha-1 Max, and it might change your thinking. From the anti-doping perspective, we have a tough fight ahead if new doping drugs appear as supplements on Amazon.com as quickly as we can create the tests to detect them.