The general public assumed that the New Orleans Saints players who failed recent drug tests must have used steroids. After all, they tested positive according to the criteria of the NFL policy on anabolic steroids. Unfortunately, the NFL Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances is a misleading name for an anti-doping policy; it includes all performance enhancing drugs and masking agents IN ADDITION to anabolic steroids. Furthermore, New Orleans Saints Deuce McAllister, Will Grant and Charles Smith tested positive for bumetanide, a prescription diuretic and NOT an anabolic steroid.

Anti-doping skeptics point to the fact that bumetanide can be used as a masking agent for anabolic steroids. Fair enough. However, attorney David Cornwell reaffirmed assertions that his clients McAllister, Grant and Smith did NOT use anabolic steroids. He alleges, with ample evidence, that the positive tests were unintentional and the result of consuming a dietary supplement Starcaps that was spiked with bumetanide.

“The evidence in yesterday’s appeal hearing confirmed that Will, Deuce, and Charles did not take steroids or any other prohibited substances,” Cornwell said in a statement.

This alone may not be sufficient to win an appeal to the four-game suspension his clients face since the NFL policy on steroids holds players responsible for any and all banned substances that enter their bodies regardless of how it arrived. But David Cornwell has leveled a serious charge against the NFL: the NFL knew that Starcaps was contaminated with bumetanide for almost two years but failed to notify football teams or players or even the company in charge of answering supplement questions for players (”Attorney says no one told players StarCaps brand had bumetanide,” November 19).

“Dr. John Lombardo, the Steroid Policy’s Independent Administrator, testified that he learned in late 2006 that StarCaps contain the diuretic, bumetanide. Dr. Lombardo did not inform NFL players because he feared that a specific warning regarding StarCaps could be used as a defense to alleged violations of the Steroid Policy that involved weight reduction products other than StarCaps.

“Dr. Lombardo’s failure to disclose what he knew about StarCaps may have exposed NFL players to the significant health risks associated with the unintentional ingestion of diuretics. If Dr. Lombardo had notified NFL players that StarCaps contained bumetanide, Will, Deuce and Charles would have never used the product to lose weight.”

The NFL refused to comment citing the confidentiality of the hearings even though the NFL appears to be responsible for leaking the names of the players in the first place.