From
ThePostGame:
Both Major League Baseball and the NFL have now warned players about products labeled as containing velvet deer antler. But that may be all the leagues can do. That's because the banned hormone the antler products are said to include are difficult to flag -- even with blood testing.
The growth hormone associated with velvet deer antler, Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and all major sports leagues. But the national lab that tests supplements for the MLB and the NFL, NSF International, does not have a test for it.
"We don't know how it's metabolizing," says Ed Wyszumiala, general manager of NSF International's dietary supplement certification program. "There's not enough scientific data."
In its letter to players last week, MLB voiced concern about another possible issue with The Ultimate Spray, adding it to its list of "potentially contaminated nutritional supplements." The League says it is acting on reports from drug-testers that the spray could produce positive tests for methyl-testosterone -- a banned testosterone byproduct.
This reaction comes only weeks after the $5.4 million ruling for St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vobora in his lawsuit against Anti-Steroid Program LLC, another of Ross' companies. The suit alleged that the cause of Vobora's failed drug test in 2009 was his use of The Ultimate Spray. Vobora sent the bottle of spray he claims to have used to a lab and it was found to contain methyl-testosterone.
However, Ross says he sent a bottle to
NMS Labs in Pennsylvania and provided those results to ThePostGame. They came back negative for methyl-testosterone. ThePostGame sent a sample of The Ultimate Spray to respected testing lab Anti-Doping Research and those results also came back negative for methyl-testosterone.
None of the athletes who have admitted using The Ultimate Spray to ThePostGame has tested positive for either IGF-1 or methyl-testosterone.