Essendon doctor Bruce Reid's letter reveals he was kept in the dark about club's supplements program

ESSENDON club doctor Bruce Reid described some of the supplement practices as "ludicrous" in an explosive letter sent to key figures at the club. READ THE LETTER

ESSENDON club doctor Bruce Reid described some of the club's supplement practices as "ludicrous" in an explosive letter sent to key figures at the club.

And Essendon players might have received banned peptides as part of a poorly administered and potentially harmful supplement regime, according to details of the AFL's case against the club and its senior figures.

The AFL's case against Essendon reveals the contents of Reid's letter to coach James Hird and former football operations boss Paul Hamilton in January 2012, three months after the supplements program began.

It was alleged in the AFL documents that biochemist Shane Charter went to Shanghai, China, in 2011 to procure the raw materials for peptides, including Thymosin Beta-4.

Reid wrote that he had been kept in the dark about substances given to players and questioned the safety and ethics of using them.

He was particularly suspicious of the calf's blood supplement Actovegin and anti-obesity drug AOD-9604.

"I am still not sure whether AOD-9604 is approved by the drug authorities in Australia at this stage," he writes after learning players had been given Tribulus and AOD-9604 without his approval.

The AFL alleges Reid often did not comply with internal rules requiring him to understand and approve of supplements to be given to players, but acknowledges his strong reservations.

The AFL's grounds for accusing the club of bringing the game into disrepute alleges it "caused" players to be given a range of substances, including banned anti-obesity drug AOD-9604, anti-ageing drug TA65, banned peptide Thymosin Beta-4, tanning agent Melanotan II, Tribulus, Colostrum and a joint lubricant advertised for dog and horse use, Lube-all-Plus. 

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Essendon club doctor Bruce Reid's letter to Hird and Hamilton

Dear James/Paul

I have some fundamental problems being club doctor at present.

This particularly applies to the administration of supplements.

Although we have been giving supplements for approximately three months, despite repeated requests as to exactly what we are giving our players and the literature related to this, have at no time been given that until last Sunday [15 January 2012]. Last week the players were given subcutaneous injections, not by myself, and I had no idea that this was happening and also what drug was involved.

It appears to me that in Sydney with Rugby League the clubs do not answer to the governing body (e.g. A.F.L.). It seems that their whole culture is based on trying to beat the system as are close to the edge as one can. It is my belief in A.F.L. that we should be winning flags by keeping a drug free culture.

It is all very well to say this is not banned and that is not banned but for example, the injection that we have given our players subcutaneously, was a drug called AOD/9604, is an Oligomeric Peptide. This drug is derived from the growth hormone. This molecule has been constructed so it has removed what we call IGF1, which is part of the growth hormone that causes muscle and organ growth and bone length and photosynthesis.

It is at the moment used for fat metabolism but also bone strength in children and may have some side effects that may be beneficial in bone growth. This to me just seem ludicrous at this stage where the only trials I have got are on how to lost weight and fat around the abdomen.

If we are resorting to deliver this altered growth hormone molecule, I think we are playing at the edge and this will read extremely badly in the press for our club and for the benefits and also for side effects that are not known in the long term, I have trouble with all these drugs.

I am still not sure whether AOD/9604 is approved by the drug authorities in Australia at this stage. Just because it is not classified as illegal, doesn’t mean that it can be used freely in the community, it cannot. The other interesting thing about AOD/9604, is that its market in America is in body builders. This also should raise a red flag if we are worried about perception.

When it comes to Actovegin, this has been used around the world for many years. There is some flimsy evidence that it may help in speeding up the healing of tendons when they are damaged, though after speaking to radiologists, the recent opinion is that platelets and one’s own blood, probably does a better job.

We are claiming that we should use it as a recovery agent. To me it seems ludicrous that a few mls of calf’s blood spun down, is going to give you a concentration of growth factors and other factors that would speed up recovery.

I am very frustrated by this and now feel I am letting the club down by not automatically approving of these things.

I need to collect my thoughts as these drugs have been given without my knowledge.

I am sure Steve Danks believes that what we are doing is totally ethical and legal, however, one wonders whether if you take a long stance and look at this from a distance, whether you would want your children being injected with a derivative hormone that is not free to the community and whether calf’s blood, that has been used for many years and is still doubted by most doctors, is worth pursuing.

Kind Regards
Dr. Bruce Reid
M.B.B.S.
Senior Medical Officer

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Details of one of the drugs the AFL says the players took was redacted.

"The club failed to reasonably satisfy itself Hexarelin, being a substance prohibited by the (anti-doping codes), was not being administered," it says.

The AFL case says biochemist Shane "Dr Ageless" Charter and Como Compounding pharmacist Nima Alavi arranged peptides for Stephen Dank, which the AFL alleges "were in fact administered" to Essendon players.

The AFL statement of grounds also alleges that players' blood was tested externally and interstate for traces of a banned drug in November 2011.

The Herald Sun has confirmed some players' blood was tested in a Sydney pathology lab on orders from a Bankstown doctor who never consulted Essendon players.

"I don't really know anything about Steve Dank and Essendon," the doctor has told the Herald Sun.

"I've never had anything to do with Essendon."

Medical referrals for blood tests typically follow consultation with the test subjects.

There is no suggestion the doctor here engaged in any wrongdoing.

The AFL charging details support details previously revealed in the Herald Sun, including that Dank and Robinson would allegedly use the harmless, generic term "amino acids" when referring to peptides.

"There is considerable uncertainty as to the exact nature of certain so-called 'amino acids' injected into the players and support staff, but it is reasonably likely that players and support staff who were injected with 'amino acids' received peptides," the AFL's statement of grounds says.

The AFL also alleges that players were injected with unspecified amino acids, including an amino acid from Mexico, at South Yarra clinic Hypermed, run by chiropractor Mal Hooper.

Hird, Robinson and ex-CEO Ian Robson were identified as key agitators for what the AFL called the "cutting-edge" program.

Essendon strongly denies the charges and insists its program did not set out to harm or dope players.

Despite the AFL alleging that banned drugs might have been given to players, it has said it does not yet have evidence to support infraction notices.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority probe continues and anti-doping charges against the club, players and officials remain a strong possibility.