Not trying to be inflammatory, looking for people who might be able to share their story.
I am a sports medicine physician in Madison WI. On March 26 I will be speaking to a large group of pediatricians, residents and medical students about performance enhancing drugs. I would like to have a panel discussion that includes some athletes who have either used or have been caught or accused of using PEDs.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any funds to pay for travel or hotel and don’t have room to put you up myself, so transportation and lodging would be on your own.
These conferences are usually video-recorded and offered both live streaming and for future viewing to the general public. If anyone who is interested in coming would prefer to have this disabled, that can be arranged. This is a Grand Rounds style presentation, so I can remind the audience to keep your identity and anything that is said confidential, but there are no assurances that your identity and comments can be kept private. Attendance to these talks is usually around 200 people.
I know it sounds like there are a lot of down-sides to agreeing to participate, but the major upside is helping to educate pediatricians on the social aspects surrounding the use of PEDs. I would say that there are significant misunderstandings of the risks, benefits, prevalence and culture of performance enhancing drugs.
Feel free to contact me off the forum. I would recommend against using the private message feature if you want to maintain confidentiality. Instead email me at my private and secure email:
arpeterson@pediatrics.wisc.edu
Also feel free to pass this message or my name and contact information along to anyone you think might be interested.
What would be in for me?
I’d care less about the “educating” aspect, but if you hook me up and “support” me for a season I might consider.
You seriously expect people to come forward?
Wow!
Talk about dillusional.
Why not, unless they are still using? I know a few people that took steroids for a long time for bodybuilding that now go to lectures and school meetings to talk about the dangers, effects, etc.
Quite a few “ex” whatevers don’t mind talking about it.
Just a few points of clarification in response to posts and PM’s I have received:
Obviously some replies were in jest, but I’m really only looking for people who have used banned substances for the purpose of improving athletic performance.
I CANNOT guarantee that your participation in the panel or anything you say will be kept confidential. However, the audience is almost entirely physicians and medical students. Sensitive information is commonly discussed in this form. The audience is supposed to maintain confidentiality if sensitive information is disclosed. Non-sensitive topics are often web-broadcast and available to the general public. If you participate in the panel and do not want it broadcast, it won’t be broadcast.
There will be other athletes on the panel. Obviously not everyone will be recruited off of Slowtwitch. I have 2 likely and 1 possible participants lined up so far.
I do not sell or prescribe medications for the purpose of improving the performance of healthy athletes. I cannot “hook you up.”
Unfortunately, I do not have anything to offer you in exchange for your participation in the panel other than my gratitude.
I am not dillusional. I am actually quite practical and realistic. If you are interested in participating in the panel and have questions about me or about my professionalism, I would be happy to provide references and a copy of my CV.
I would not expect the audience to be hostile towards any athletes on the panel regardless of their history of drug use. In fact, at least one audience member would likely support you in any disagreements that should happen to occur (google the name Norm Fost and Steroids if you are interested in the history of PED ethics at Wisconsin).
Likewise, this will not be a confrontational experience. I will provide discussion questions ahead of time and will steer the conversation toward the main topics should it get derailed.
I am happy to answer any questions you might have about the event, either on or off the Slowtwitch forum.
"Though I knew I would be courting health risks, I decided there was only one way to find out: try it myself, and see what it did.
My plan was simple. I would train as I always do—about 15 to 20 hours a week—while taking various supplements under Dr. Jones’s supervision. I started in January 2003. In eight months, I intended to ride the 1,225-kilometer (761-mile) Paris-Brest-Paris bicycle race, a once-every-four-years sufferfest that’s popular among amateur ultracyclists. I would first have to qualify by completing a series of 200-, 300-, 400-, and 600-kilometer rides within certain time limits. The PBP was a quirky event, a ride rather than a real race, with no prizes, no ranking of finishers, no doping controls. So if the drugs helped me, I wouldn’t be knocking anybody else down in the standings. And since this was a monster ride—which I’d have to complete in less than 84 hours—it would serve as a real test of my augmented self."
I’m really only looking for people who have used banned substances for the purpose of improving athletic performance.
Caffeine and pseudoephedrine are now off the banned list but I drank espressos and (occasionally) took sudafed when they were banned. I’m sure you could find someone in Madison who did the same. Then you could have a panel discussion about why certain drugs are banned and why they become unbanned.
Andy, why do a group of pediatricians need to sit in on a panel discussion on this topic? Is it because they see teenagers that may be using PEDs? If so, you don’t want triathletes to be here you want current and ex highschool football players.
Agreed. I’m looking for 1 adult endurance sport athlete to round out the panel. Others will likely be high school and college athletes in other sports.
Andy, why do a group of pediatricians need to sit in on a panel discussion on this topic? Is it because they see teenagers that may be using PEDs? If so, you don’t want triathletes to be here you want current and ex highschool football players.
Not to really sidetrack it, but football players aren’t necessarily your best bet. You would be very surprised at who is doing what in HS locker rooms across the country.
I eat steak. I think that has hormones in it, right?
BTW-it’s spelled “delusional” not “dillusional.”
Correct. I was responding to the misspelling in de-tri-mental’s post. Maybe it should have been in pink. All other misspellings and typographical errors are unintentional.