MLB's Ped Test Snares Another Superstar

Certainly, Manny Ramirez has never been an altar boy, either with the Red Sox (pictured) or the LA Dodgers now, but he emphasized in a statement that he had passed 15 PED tests over the last 5 years. So what exact did the MLB drug policy snag him for?

Initial reports were inconclusive. That is, major league baseball did not indicate what the violation was. However, ESPN has the news, and one would think it's somewhat confusing. According to ESPN, the drug used by Ramirez is HCG -- human chorionic gonadotropin. HCG is a women's fertility drug. Whoa!

However, the use of HCG makes sense, but only if Ramirez had previously used steroids. that the drug used by Ramirez is HCG -- human chorionic gonadotropin. While HCG is a women's fertility drug, it is typically used by steroid users to restart their a user's natural testosterone production as they come off a "steroid cycle." In that case, it's strange that Ramirez did not fail a prior PED test and thus violate MLB's drug policy earlier.

Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games under MLB's drug policy. As noted in a release issued by the players' union in reference to the failed PED test, Ramirez said:

"Recently, I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me.

"Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."

Hard to believe that the drug involved in this failed PED test would be something that might be normally prescribed by a physician to a male, but of course, I am not a doctor. Obviously, still more to come.