This might be the first time in sports history that a warning had to be sent about something like this.
Major League Baseball continues its fight to remove performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) from the game, which brought them to sending out a memo to all players to steer clear of using specific over-the-counter pills.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the memo told players the warnings about using gas station sexual-enhancement pills.
“Sexual or male enhancement products present a very real risk for drug-tested players,” the memo said, “and the high likelihood for contamination or unidentified ingredients in these products underscores the importance of consuming only those products that are NSF Certified for Sport.”
Apparently, at least two players found themselves suspended for PEDs and pointed the finger at banned substances found in their urine from the unregulated products.
In the memo, which was sent to major and minor league players and re-distributed by the MLB Players Association to ensure its members received it, MLB suggested that players who “suffer from erectile dysfunction or other legitimate issues related to sexual performance … speak to a licensed physician about the various prescription medications (e.g., Viagra, Cialis, Levitra) available to treat those conditions.”
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Over-the-counter sexual-enhancement pills are part of the unregulated supplement industry and are said to be worth more than $30 billion a year.
“We know from experience,” the league memo said, “that a number of these sexual or male enhancement products — which are sold online, at retail stores, and on the black market, both in the United States and internationally — contain anabolic steroids and other prohibited substances.
“For this reason,” the memo continued, “we strongly urge players against taking any sexual or male enhancement product, from any source.”
MLB players have been formally warned.
