Patrick Arnold

Last updated
Patrick Arnold
Born1966 (age 57–58)
Guilford, Connecticut, U.S.
Known forRole in BALCO scandal
Criminal statusReleased
Conviction(s) Conspiracy to distribute steroids
Criminal penalty3 months imprisonment
3 months house arrest
Alma mater University of New Haven
Scientific career
Fields Organic chemistry

Patrick Arnold (born 1966) [1] is an American organic chemist known for introducing androstenedione, 1-androstenediol, and methylhexanamine into the dietary supplement market, and for creating the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, also known as THG and "the clear". [2] THG, along with two other anabolic steroids that Arnold manufactured (norbolethone and desoxymethyltestosterone (DMT)), not banned at the time of their creation, were hard-to-detect drugs at the heart of the BALCO professional sports doping scandal. [3] [4] BALCO distributed these worldwide to world-class athletes in a wide variety of sports ranging from track and field to professional baseball and football.

Contents

Patrick Arnold also reintroduced methylhexanamine into the market as a dietary supplement [5] under the mark Geranamine, a substance that has gained popularity.

Arnold, who is also an amateur bodybuilder, initially gained notoriety as "the Father of Prohormones." [6]

Life and early career

Arnold grew up in Guilford, Connecticut. At age 11 he started working out after his father gave him a set of weights. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, despite following protein diets, he grew frustrated with his inability to put on much muscle mass. According to his version of events, Arnold's first contact with steroids happened when "a guy in a gym got him a cheap counterfeit steroid that contained just enough methyltestosterone that it added 10 pounds of muscle in all the right places." [7] This sparked his interest in chemistry, and in 1990 Arnold graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of New Haven. [6] [7]

After graduation Arnold took a lab job in New Jersey that allowed him enough free time to research performance enhancers. He also took classes on organic synthesis at the University of Connecticut and Montclair State, and "devoured" books on supplements and steroids, studying both approved and unapproved Western drugs and those used by the East Germans in their doping heyday.

In 1996 he befriended Dan Duchaine, who introduced Arnold to Stan Antosh, the owner of Osmo Therapy, a supplement company then based in San Francisco. Antosh persuaded Arnold to move his research to a small company in Seymour, Illinois, called Bar North America, which was owned by Ramlakhan Boodram. In Seymour, Arnold reviewed old patents looking for drugs that had never made it to market or were used only briefly. Later that year he introduced androstenedione to the North American market, which became successful after Mark McGwire was found using it. But, because their company didn't sell andro directly to consumers, but only as an ingredient to other supplement makers, Arnold missed out on a financial windfall. [7]

In 2001 Arnold's company introduced the prohormone 1-Androstenediol, under the marketing name 1-AD. Like andro, 1-AD is a prohormone that is easily converted by the body into 1-testosterone, and it sold well. But the boom was short-lived. In January '05 an amendment to the federal Controlled Substance Act banned prohormones. The company lost 60% of their sales, and became unprofitable. [7]

According to Arnold, Victor Conte contacted him in 2000 seeking undetectable drugs. Arnold offered norbolethone, which he had synthesized in 1998. About this new venture Arnold recalls, "I didn't feel I was jumping into anything more than [a potential problem] with a sports governing body," and attributes his motivation for involvement to his curiosity about the responsiveness of well-trained athletes, as well as pride in his own work. In 2001 Arnold switched to providing Conte with tetrahydrogestrinone after norbolethone started to draw scrutiny from drug testers. [7]

Time in prison

In 2006, Arnold was sentenced to three months in prison at Federal Correctional Institution, Morgantown in West Virginia followed by three months of house arrest for his role in the BALCO scandal. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrahydrogestrinone</span> Synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS)

Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), known by the nickname The Clear, is a synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) which was never marketed for medical use. It was developed by Patrick Arnold and was used by a number of high-profile athletes such as Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, and Dwain Chambers.

An androgen prohormone, or proandrogen, is a prohormone of an anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS). They can be prohormones of testosterone or of synthetic AAS, for example, nandrolone (19-nortestosterone). Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA sulfate (DHEA-S), and androstenedione may all be considered proandrogens of testosterone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Androstenedione</span> Endogenous weak androgen

Androstenedione, or 4-androstenedione, also known as androst-4-ene-3,17-dione, is an endogenous weak androgen steroid hormone and intermediate in the biosynthesis of estrone and of testosterone from dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). It is closely related to androstenediol (androst-5-ene-3β,17β-diol).

The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) was an American company that operated from 1983 to 2003 led by founder and owner Victor Conte.

Christos Tzekos is a Greek athletics coach.

Victor Conte Jr. is the founder and president of Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), which is now defunct. BALCO was a sports nutrition center in California. In the late seventies Conte played bass with funk / R&B group Tower of Power, appearing on the band's 1978 release We Came to Play!.

Kelli White is an American former sprinter. She won two gold medals in the World Championships in Paris in 2003. However, on June 18, 2004, she was stripped of her medals, because she tested positive on a drug test. She retired from professional track in 2006.

<i>Game of Shadows</i> Book by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams

Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports is a bestselling non-fiction book published on March 23, 2006, and written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle. When Sports Illustrated released excerpts from the book on March 7, it generated considerable publicity because the book chronicles alleged extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs, including several different types of steroids and growth hormones, by San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds.

Trevor Graham is a Jamaican-born American former sprinter and athletics coach. Following the BALCO scandal, the US Olympic Committee barred him indefinitely from all its training sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norboletone</span> Chemical compound

Norboletone, or norbolethone, is a synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) which was never marketed. It was first developed in 1966 by Wyeth Laboratories and was investigated for use as an agent to encourage weight gain and for the treatment of short stature, but was never marketed commercially because of fears that it might be toxic. It subsequently showed up in urine tests on athletes in competition in the early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desoxymethyltestosterone</span> Chemical compound

Desoxymethyltestosterone (DMT), known by the nicknames Madol and Pheraplex, is a synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) and a 17α-methylated derivative of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which was never marketed for medical use. It was one of the first designer steroids to be marketed as a performance-enhancing drug to athletes and bodybuilders.

The BALCO scandal was a scandal involving the use of banned, performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes.

Don H. Catlin is an anti-doping scientist and one of the founders of modern drug-testing in professional sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1-Androstenedione</span> Chemical compound

1-Androstenedione, or 5α-androst-1-ene-3,17-dione, also known as 4,5α-dihydro-δ1-4-androstenedione, is a synthetic androgen and anabolic steroid. It is a 5α-reduced isomer of the endogenous steroid 4-androstenedione and acts as an androgen prohormone of 1-testosterone (4,5α-dihydro-δ1-testosterone), a derivative of dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

Tammy Thomas is an American former sprint track cyclist, who won a silver medal at the 2001 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in the individual sprint event. However, her career was ended after she was caught using anabolic steroids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chlorodehydromethylandrostenediol</span> Chemical compound

Chlorodehydromethylandrostenediol (CDMA), also known as 4-chloro-17α-methylandrost-1,4-diene-3β,17β-diol, is a synthetic, orally active anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) and a 17α-alkylated derivative of 4-androstenediol that was never marketed. It was first encountered in 2005 when it was introduced as a "dietary supplement" and putative prohormone under the name Halodrol-50 by industry veteran, Bruce Kneller while working with the dietary supplement company, Gaspari Nutrition. The drug was the subject of a scathing and highly critical article by The Washington Post in November 2006. CDMA was voluntarily discontinued by Gaspari Nutrition in mid-2006, likely fearing government sanctions if it continued to sell the product. During the brief period of time that CDMA was sold online, it was an extremely well-selling product; its total sales are estimated to have been greater than twenty five million dollars, and by some estimates, CDMA may have been the best-selling hormonal product ever sold "over-the-counter" in the United States.CDMA continued to be sold online until the 2014 prohormone ban as generic versions known as clones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloromethylandrostenediol</span> Chemical compound

Chloromethylandrostenediol (CMA), also known as 4-chloro-17α-methyl-androst-4-ene-3β,17β-diol, is a synthetic, orally active anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) and a 17α-alkylated derivative of 4-androstenediol that was never marketed. It was first encountered in 2005 when it was introduced as a "dietary supplement" and putative prohormone under the name Promagnon by an online vendor called Peak Performance Laboratories. CMA was voluntarily discontinued by Gaspari Nutrition in late 2006, likely fearing government sanctions if it continued to sell the product.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19-Nor-5-androstenediol</span> Chemical compound

19-Nor-5-androstenediol, also known as estr-5-ene-3β,17β-diol, is a synthetic, orally active anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) and a derivative of 19-nortestosterone (nandrolone) that was never introduced for medical use. It is an androgen prohormone of nandrolone and of other 19-norandrostanes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19-Nor-5-androstenedione</span> Synthetic, orally active anabolic steroid

19-Nor-5-androstenedione, also known as estr-5-ene-3,17-dione, is a synthetic, orally active anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) and a derivative of 19-nortestosterone (nandrolone) that was never introduced for medical use. It is an androgen prohormone of nandrolone and of other 19-norandrostanes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19-Nordehydroepiandrosterone</span> Chemical compound

19-Nordehydroepiandrosterone (19-nor-DHEA), or 19-nor-5-dehydroepiandrosterone (19-nor-5-DHEA), is an estrane (19-norandrostane) steroid which was never marketed. It is the combined derivative of the androgen/anabolic steroid nandrolone (19-nortestosterone) and the androgen prohormone dehydroepiandrosterone. Related compounds include 19-nor-5-androstenediol, bolandiol (19-nor-4-androstenediol), and bolandione (nor-4-androstenedione), which are all known orally active prohormones of nandrolone. 19-Nor-DHEA may occur as a metabolite of bolandione and related steroids.

References

  1. ↑ Newton, David E. (2018). Steroids and Doping in Sports: A Reference Handbook, 2nd Edition. ABC-CLIO. p. 166. ISBN   9781440854828 . Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 Creator Of 'The Clear' Imprisoned CBS News, 04 Aug 2006, retrieved July 2007
  3. ↑ Shipley, Amy (4 November 2005). "Illinois Chemist Is Indicted in BALCO Scandal". Washington Post . Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Chemist Who Created "The Clear" Sentenced Archived 2006-10-14 at the Wayback Machine , United States Department of Justice Press Release, 04 Aug 2006, retrieved July 2007
  5. ↑ "Under the Knife: 997". 16 August 2010.
  6. 1 2 Henry K. Lee (August 4, 2006) Inventor of 'clear' steroid gets 3 months in prison, The San Francisco Chronicle
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 George Dohrmann (October 09, 2006) Is This Dr. Evil? A legend in the sports netherworld, chemist Patrick Arnold--inventor of THG--breaks his silence on his role in the BALCO scandal and hints of a future filled with scary science Archived 2012-12-08 at archive.today , Sports Illustrated
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