Innovator
07-27-2007, 03:59 PM
World Wrestling Entertainment's Vince McMahon was asked in a letter dated today to provide records pertaining to World Wrestling Entertainment's drug testing policies by the two congressmen responsible for conducting steroid hearings into Major League Baseball, according to an article published on ESPN.com (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2951586) this afternoon.
Rep. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Tom Davis, its ranking minority member, wrote McMahon requesting, "a series of documents intended to give the committee and its investigation a detailed look at WWE's drug-testing policy, including information about the results of performance-enhancing drug tests on pro wrestlers."
Excerpts from the letter according to the article include:
"The tragic deaths of World Wrestling Entertainment star Chris Benoit and his family have raised questions about reports of widespread use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by professional wrestlers.
"These allegations -- which include first-hand reports of steroid use by prominent former wrestlers -- have swirled around the WWE for over a decade. Investigations by journalists have described a culture of performance-enhancing drug use in professional wrestling, high fatality rates among young professional wrestlers, and an inability or unwillingness of WWE to address these problems."
"WWE has a responsibility to do everything possible to eliminate the use of performance-enhancing drugs -- or the perception of such use -- by its wrestlers."
ESPN.com reported that the requests in the letter are similar to what was asked of Major League Baseball by Congress during its investigation into MLB and included requests for:
*A listing of drugs covered by WWE's policies.
*The entity [this would be Aegis Science, headed by Dr. David Black] that conducts its drug testing, details on the number of tests it conducts annually and how many wrestlers are tested during the period.
*The protocols WWE follows after positive drug tests
*Procedures that lead to exemptions of positive tests.
ESPN.com also reports that WWE has been asked to provide results of any investigations WWE has prepared in regard to the deaths, injuries, or illnesses of "current or former professional wrestlers that may have been related to the use of steroids." as well as "all communications between [WWE] and outside entities including communications with health care professionals or law enforcement authorities, regarding allegations of drug use by wrestlers."
Rep. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Tom Davis, its ranking minority member, wrote McMahon requesting, "a series of documents intended to give the committee and its investigation a detailed look at WWE's drug-testing policy, including information about the results of performance-enhancing drug tests on pro wrestlers."
Excerpts from the letter according to the article include:
"The tragic deaths of World Wrestling Entertainment star Chris Benoit and his family have raised questions about reports of widespread use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by professional wrestlers.
"These allegations -- which include first-hand reports of steroid use by prominent former wrestlers -- have swirled around the WWE for over a decade. Investigations by journalists have described a culture of performance-enhancing drug use in professional wrestling, high fatality rates among young professional wrestlers, and an inability or unwillingness of WWE to address these problems."
"WWE has a responsibility to do everything possible to eliminate the use of performance-enhancing drugs -- or the perception of such use -- by its wrestlers."
ESPN.com reported that the requests in the letter are similar to what was asked of Major League Baseball by Congress during its investigation into MLB and included requests for:
*A listing of drugs covered by WWE's policies.
*The entity [this would be Aegis Science, headed by Dr. David Black] that conducts its drug testing, details on the number of tests it conducts annually and how many wrestlers are tested during the period.
*The protocols WWE follows after positive drug tests
*Procedures that lead to exemptions of positive tests.
ESPN.com also reports that WWE has been asked to provide results of any investigations WWE has prepared in regard to the deaths, injuries, or illnesses of "current or former professional wrestlers that may have been related to the use of steroids." as well as "all communications between [WWE] and outside entities including communications with health care professionals or law enforcement authorities, regarding allegations of drug use by wrestlers."