Congress urged to probe steroid use in wrestling, By: John Hollis

07/13/07 

The Florida congressman who two years ago grilled officials from Major League Baseball and two of the nation's other major sports over steroid and drug abuse has turned his sights to professional wrestling.

Cliff Stearns, the ranking Republican member on the House Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection Subcommittee, formally has asked for congressional hearings as early as this fall that would take a much closer look at whether drugs and steroids are being used in the professional wrestling industry.

"I think it's something Congress should look into," Stearns said Thursday afternoon during a telephone interview. "I think people's lives are at stake."

The development follows last month's tragedy in which WWE wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and their mentally challenged 7-year-old son before killing himself in their Fayetteville home.

Stearns said he is interested in subsequent charges against Dr. Phil Astin III. Prosecutors say Benoit was obtaining a 10-month supply of steroids every three or four weeks from the Carrollton doctor.

Astin was arrested July 2 and charged with seven counts of distributing excessive amounts of painkillers. He remains on house arrest after being released on bond last week. He faces federal charges relating to medications he prescribed to two unidentified patients, neither of whom are believed to be Benoit.

Last weekend, federal Drug Enforcement Agency investigators searched a storage unit that Astin had rented for more than 10 years. On Tuesday, agents searched Astin's West Georgia office for a third time and seized 68 boxes of documents, including patient records and billing statements, The Associated Press reported.

Stearns chaired the subcommittee whose 2005 hearings included testimony from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and his counterparts from the NFL and NBA, Paul Tagliabue and David Stern.

Stearns approached subcommittee chairman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and Energy and Commerce Committee chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) on Thursday about the possibility of seeking voluntary testimony from professional wrestlers and promoters in an effort to better understand their entertainment industry, particularly their specific drug policies.

WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt had no comment.

Stearns said he felt optimistic hearings could get under way sometime this fall.

"I think it would be helpful for the WWE to come in and explain what their drug policy is and see what they think," he said.