JC Romero sues supplemental maker

[Mephistopheles]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-phillies-romerolawsuit&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

 

Suspended Phillies reliever J.C. Romero has filed suit against a nutritional supplement manufacturer alleging an unlisted ingredient in one of its products caused him to test positive for a substance banned by Major League Baseball.

 

Romero, suspended for the first 50 games of the 2009 season, says he tested positive for steroids last August because a supplement he was taking, 6-OXO Extreme, did not specify it included androstenedione, a banned substance.

 

He filed suit Monday in Camden County, N.J. seeking punitive and compensatory damages.

 

Romero also named as defendants the corporate owners of two nutritional stores where he purchased 6-OXO Extreme, alleging sales clerks assured him it would not cause a positive test for a banned substance.

 

Gotta feel for someone like JC. He's getting screwed. It was (apparently) not his intent to cheat and he did everything in his power not to cheat, but got screwed. Sucks to be him.

[Derwood]

 

Gotta feel for someone like JC. He's getting screwed. It was (apparently) not his intent to cheat and he did everything in his power not to cheat, but got screwed. Sucks to be him.

 

That's what everyboyd says when they get caught. They didn't know it was banned, they didn't read the label, they didn't know what they were taking, their doctor/trainer/teammate gave it to them, whatever.

[fromthestretch]

 

Gotta feel for someone like JC. He's getting screwed. It was (apparently) not his intent to cheat and he did everything in his power not to cheat, but got screwed. Sucks to be him.

 

That's what everyboyd says when they get caught. They didn't know it was banned, they didn't read the label, they didn't know what they were taking, their doctor/trainer/teammate gave it to them, whatever.

 

Romero's big claim here is that the packaging did not indicate that the supplement contained a certain substance. I would think that part should be easy to prove if he still has the packaging.

 

I don't know how he's going to prove the part about the clerks assuring him he wouldn't test positive.

[CubbieBum]

 

Gotta feel for someone like JC. He's getting screwed. It was (apparently) not his intent to cheat and he did everything in his power not to cheat, but got screwed. Sucks to be him.

 

That's what everyboyd says when they get caught. They didn't know it was banned, they didn't read the label, they didn't know what they were taking, their doctor/trainer/teammate gave it to them, whatever.

 

That is true but how many of them filed a lawsuit?

[CubColtPacer]

 

Gotta feel for someone like JC. He's getting screwed. It was (apparently) not his intent to cheat and he did everything in his power not to cheat, but got screwed. Sucks to be him.

 

That's what everyboyd says when they get caught. They didn't know it was banned, they didn't read the label, they didn't know what they were taking, their doctor/trainer/teammate gave it to them, whatever.

 

Romero's big claim here is that the packaging did not indicate that the supplement contained a certain substance. I would think that part should be easy to prove if he still has the packaging.

 

I don't know how he's going to prove the part about the clerks assuring him he wouldn't test positive.

 

Also even if it's true that the clerks assured him that there wasn't a banned substance in there, he has to prove that it was likely that they were intentionally misleading him.

 

That is a problem on multiple levels. 1) They are not considered experts on baseball's banned substance list and so unless he asked them specifically if it contained a certain ingredient, their opinion even if it was wrong is certainly not illegal.

2) They would have to prove that the clerks knew that the banned substance was actually in the product. First, it's unlikely that the clerks knew anything more than the packaging. And even if they did, it would be extremely difficult to prove that they did because you would have to prove how they would have obtained the information in the first place.

 

The case against the manufacturer seems stronger because it's not reasonable for them to not know what's in their own product. I don't know if Romero would have to prove that they left it off intentionally or just that they showed negligence by leaving it off.

[Wheelimus]

 

Gotta feel for someone like JC. He's getting screwed. It was (apparently) not his intent to cheat and he did everything in his power not to cheat, but got screwed. Sucks to be him.

 

That's what everyboyd says when they get caught. They didn't know it was banned, they didn't read the label, they didn't know what they were taking, their doctor/trainer/teammate gave it to them, whatever.

 

That is true but how many of them filed a lawsuit?

 

Exactly. Romero may be the first failed test player I believe. Because he didn't just talk a big game, he actually followed through with the lawsuit.

 

He's a good example of why the 50 game automatic suspension is stupid. Like everything else in life, it isn't black and white. There should be an option to only suspend a player for, say, 15 games when you believe they didn't intentionally cheat. Obviously every player will deny it, but most won't have a verifiable GNC product that MLB could presumably test and verify the banned substance wasn't on the packaging.