Federal Agents May Question MLBers Over '03 Steroids Tests

Federal authorities may soon "seek to question each of the 104" MLB players who tested positive for steroids in '03 about "where and how they obtained the substance," according to a lawyer cited by Michael Schmidt of the N.Y. TIMES. Federal agents in '03 seized the positive drug test results as part of the BALCO investigation, and though the MLBPA has "tried to protect its members by arguing that the government illegally obtained the information," the government "appears close to prevailing in the legal battle, which could set off another round of federal drug investigations." After talking to the players, the authorities "intend to distribute the information they receive to federal prosecutors around the country." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in S.F. is "weighing a union request to rehear the matter," and if it "decides not to hear the case, the union's last recourse would be an appeal to the Supreme Court." If the Supreme Court gets the case and "decides not to hear it, the government will probably be free to use the tests within weeks." Schmidt noted the "notion of simultaneous drug investigations being conducted by various federal attorney’s offices around the country would be a significant setback to [MLB], which has struggled to get control of the issues related to performance-enhancing drugs" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/18).

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