Chris Davis tested positive for amphetamines. (25 Game Ban)

[webbrick2010]

Just as a bit of a public health discourse...I have spent my entire professional life treating individuals suffering with a wide variety of brain illnesses and other disorders of mental life. The reality is that brain illnesses do exist. The wonderful organ that sits in our skull can, unfortunately, be afflicted with illness at times, just like every other part of our body. Fortunately, our understanding of the brain, its function, and its disorders and treatments are much greater now than even a decade ago. Every person, however, is an individual. You cannot make sweeping generalizations and be accurate about much of anything as it relates to the complexity of the human mind/brain. It is essential to conduct a thorough psychiatric evaluation and diagnosis and only then to develop an individualized treatment plan that could involve additional brain imaging, neuropsychological tests, medication, psychotherapy, or social interventions. This is what I do every single day with individuals and their families who suffer greatly due to brain illnesses. Unfortunately, unlike illnesses affecting other parts of the body, people who suffer from them also have to deal stigma, unlike someone with cancer or heart disease. I was very fortunate to have trained at Johns Hopkins that has some of the world's leading brain scientists in their psychiatry division. If Chris Davis has attention deficit disorder, it is an illness that can adversely impact his life in many ways and which does, fortunately, often respond effectively to treatment. The brain of individuals with ADD does not respond to amphetamines like the brain of people without the disorder. They are not sped up or increased in energy, but, in fact, are often reduced in their hyperactivity and only normalized in their capacity for attention and concentration. If Chris has ADD and simply made a mistake in not filing the necessary exemption with MLB, then that was his mistake that he will pay dearly for. But, if he does NOT have ADD and was abusing or misusing nonindicated Adderall which is a Schedule Ii controlled substance, then that IS substance abuse, which is a different problem altogether.

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A guy with millions of potential free agent dollars in the balance forgets to ask for an exemption? Gotta be really na?ve to believe this. I think it very likely that he is an abuser and an addict. I have been a huge CD supporter, backing him even as his average has plummeted but I feel betrayed. I'd be happy to see the O's trade him in the offseason. I'm not sure he is worth an arbitration hearing.

[atomic]

It is an interesting dilemma. Do you know of any examples of MLB players having ongoing health issues from the side effects of cortisone and prednisone? Not calling you out or anything. I'm genuinely curious.

Didn't Jim Palmer refuse to take Cortisone shots back in the day?

[tntoriole]

People use the term steroid for both to incite a negative connotation for the non performance enhancing non anabolic steroids.

Although us chemistry majors remember that the word steroid is simply any organic compound that has at least four cycloalkane rings in its structure. The different types of steroids are simply due to chemical bond variations added or subtracted to this core molecular structure.

I am sure sports writers know this though when they are using the term.

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[tntoriole]

A guy with millions of potential free agent dollars in the balance forgets to ask for an exemption? Gotta be really na?ve to believe this. I think it very likely that he is an abuser and an addict. I have been a huge CD supporter, backing him even as his average has plummeted but I feel betrayed. I'd be happy to see the O's trade him in the offseason. I'm not sure he is worth an arbitration hearing.

Unfortunately, it very well may be that he was misusing or abusing the Adderall. In that case, it is certainly disappointing for us as fans and very destructive for Chris, his career and his family.

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[BradyBunch]

True, but prednisone is a steroid and a pretty powerful one (depending on dosage I guess) . My father took it for years and had some pretty bad side effects from it. Then again he had other sever issues. If it is administered liberally to MLB baseball players (which I had no idea they did) I could see that presenting a problem.

Cortisone is in the US (as it's banned in the Olympics) is the miracle drug for athletes. Ryan Zimmerman still plays because of it. There are dozens of examples of players careers being extended because they were pumped up on Cortisone. Curt Shilling pitched with a dislocated tendon in his right foot hopped up on Cortisone and pain killer Marcaine in the world series (bloody sock game).

[CA-ORIOLE]

Cortisone is in the US (as it's banned in the Olympics) is the miracle drug for athletes. Ryan Zimmerman still plays because of it. There are dozens of examples of players careers being extended because they were pumped up on Cortisone. Curt Shilling pitched with a dislocated tendon in his right foot hopped up on Cortisone and pain killer Marcaine in the world series (bloody sock game).

No, I get that. What about any documented long term side effects? That is germane to the issue and distinguishment between the various drugs/PED's etc..

[BradyBunch]

People use the term steroid for both to incite a negative connotation for the non performance enhancing non anabolic steroids.

They use the correct term for it. You may not like it and that's fine but at the end of the day.. a player who gets a shot of cortisone is about getting the player on the field to perform. It may not make them stronger or faster, but it gets them on the field instead of watching the game on their couch on the 15 day DL.

[square634]

No, I get that. What about any documented long term side effects? That is germane to the issue and distinguishment between the various drugs/PED's etc..

Side effect profile is different for local injection vs. systemic (oral or intravenous) and is worse with long-term constant use. It is an interesting question. I think I see where you are going and agree philosophically with you. It is very difficult and somewhat arbitrary to distinguish between what qualifies "performance enhancing" and what acceptable risk profiles are for "legal" performance enhancement. This would apply to everything from eyeglasses to Advil to knee surgery.

[BradyBunch]

No, I get that. What about any documented long term side effects? That is germane to the issue and distinguishment between the various drugs/PED's etc..

How about Atherosclerosis, Glaucome, Osteoprosis, Depression, or Diabetes? There is also the issue that Cortisone use also increases chances of injuries to tendons.

For example avascular necrosis is common in habitual users. Mike Napoli has avascular necrosis.

[ChuckS]

I think we can all agree that Chris Davis continued to use Aderall while knowing the risk of a suspension for one of two reasons: 1. He was addicted to the substance for non-performance reasons and couldn't control himself. 2. He felt it was key in improving/maintaining his performance and it was worth the risk.

I'm posting this poll to see what people think. Other than enhanced concentration I'm not sure how much of a performance enhancer this kind of drug can be. The whole situation is baffling to me.

One thing I will say: If he's willing to take this kind of risk to use a banned substance for something that may or may not improve his play of the field, how likely is it that he is or has been on more serious performance enhancers, such as anabolic steroids?

[Dr. Unk]

I'm gonna go with his ADD made him forget to get a T.U.E. Yup, that's what I have. Either that, or he is a dumb@@@.

I still think his whole season has been due to him trying to keep up with Cruz.

[BradyBunch]

Btw, a poll with two choices that make Chris Davis look like an ass is kinda of stupid. What if he really felt his ADHD/ADD was harming him so much he felt he had to take it to calm down and focus again?

That should be a valid answer for the poll, the fact he was diagnosed with ADHD/ADD and he saw it harming his ability.

[ChuckS]

I'm gonna go with his ADD made him forget to get a T.U.E. Yup, that's what I have. Either that, or he is a dumb@@@.

I still think his whole season has been due to him trying to keep up with Cruz.

Well since reports are that he already tested positive once, he was obviously aware that he did not have the exemption so I don't think you can point to ADD. I also don't think he's that big of an idiot. Again, I think the only two possible answers are addiction or really felt that he needed it for performance and was worth the risk.

I apologize if this has already been discussed, but navigating through a 51 page thread to find the material that is relevant to what I want to discuss is almost impossible.

[TonySoprano]

Btw, a poll with two choices that make Chris Davis look like an ass is kinda of stupid. What if he really felt his ADHD/ADD was harming him so much he felt he had to take it to calm down and focus again?

That should be a valid answer for the poll, the fact he was diagnosed with ADHD/ADD and he saw it harming his ability.

Agreed. I didn't care for the "addiction" option.

[CA-ORIOLE]

How about Atherosclerosis, Glaucome, Osteoprosis, Depression, or Diabetes? There is also the issue that Cortisone use also increases chances of injuries to tendons.

For example avascular necrosis is common in habitual users. Mike Napoli has avascular necrosis.

Ok, that is fair enough. I agree with you that it is a concern. Napoli is probably the first player that I have heard of having health issues from cortisone (if that is indeed the case).