House votes to bar over-the-counter sales of steroid precursors

Physicians and consumer advocates applaud the new legislation but seek further steps to regulate dietary supplements.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. June 21, 2004.

Washington -- Anabolic steroid precursors soon could join the federal list of controlled substances that are unavailable without a physician's prescription.

Anabolic steroids, which convert to testosterone once they are in the body, are barred from over-the-counter sales, but their precursors, such as androstenedione, known as andro, are sold as dietary supplements. They are popular with some professional and young athletes for enhancing performance and building muscle mass.

As dietary supplements, the pills are covered by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which gives the federal government very little leeway in regulating them.

But legislation passed June 3 by the House, with a 403-3 vote, would reclassify most steroid precursors as controlled substances, making them illegal to sell without a prescription.

"It's sort of a quantum leap from being considered basically a food supplement all the way to a controlled substance," said Gary Wadler, MD, PhD, professor of clinical medicine at New York University.

The legislation also would invoke harsher sentences for anyone caught selling the banned substances in or near sports facilities.

"The goal of this legislation is clear: We do not want these harmful substances around our gyms, baseball stadiums, football fields or our running tracks," said Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R, Wis.), who introduced the measure.

The American Medical Association applauded the bill's passage. "The action by the House is encouraging, and we hope that the Senate will pass similar legislation so that we can remove these dangerous products from the marketplace," said AMA Trustee Ron Davis, MD.