Player Agents Referred Clients to Steroid Doc

Federal authorities unsealed an indictment yesterday that charges Dr. Ramon Scruggs and two associates with illegally prescribing performance-enhancing drugs to MLB players. One assertion made in the indictment is that players’ agents referred them to Scruggs, though no agents are named. The doctor, along with associates Allan Danto and Heidi Macpherson, faces 11 charges relating to the illegal distribution of the drugs.

California DEA agents had been watching Scruggs for several years, reports the New York Times, and had ramped up their investigation in the last year. Scruggs' name was also mentioned in last December’s Mitchell Report, linked to players Troy Glaus and Scott Schoenweis. The physician had been fined in the past for illegally writing prescriptions over the Internet and received 35 months' probation for his wrong-doings. (More Ramon Scruggs stories.)