2 Bay Area Men Are Indicted in Sale of Steroids

Two San Francisco Bay Area men were indicted Tuesday on charges of manufacturing, distributing and promoting a synthetic steroid that has caused adverse effects in at least 70 users.

The indictments, announced by the Justice Department and Food and Drug Administration, were brought in San Francisco against Edward A. Byrd and Jerald Bloch, operators of the California Body Club in San Leandro, where both men live.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Gen. Stuart Gerson said that the two men are accused of producing and distributing gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a “substitute” anabolic steroid, said to enhance muscle growth, reduce fat and induce sleep. The drug has not been approved for clinical use by the FDA.

Byrd and Bloch, who live in the same San Leandro apartment listed as the business address for California Body Club, declined to comment on the indictments.

Indictments charging illegal manufacture and distribution of the drug also have been brought in Tucson against Mark Thierman, Sherry Cano and Robert Histon of Amino Discounters Ltd., which allegedly made the chemical.

While GHB may produce some of the promised muscle- and bulk-building effects desired by followers of “the cult of beauty,” Gerson said, it has caused severe heart and respiratory problems in some users.

“It can induce anything from stomach cramps to comas,” said Dr. Russell Katz of the FDA. “It’s not a steroid compound, but it’s as dangerous as one.”

About 14 people across the country have been hospitalized after experiencing seizures apparently caused by GHB, federal officials said, while a similar number have required hospital treatment because the drug apparently caused them to lose consciousness.

FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler said GHB also has been associated in some users with a drop in blood pressure, slowed heartbeat, vomiting and irregular respiration.

Officials said they have no firm estimate of the number of people who may have used the drug, which is sold clandestinely in bulk or marketed illegally as Somatomax PM.

GHB is illegal except for research purposes in the United States, although it is used under doctors’ strict supervision in some parts of Europe.

Byrd and Bloch, who allegedly were involved in the receipt and distribution of GHB, were charged with one count of distributing drugs under the false label of Biosky Research Group, San Francisco, Calif., a fictitious business. The men also were charged with five counts of introducing the drug into interstate commerce and failing to provide adequate directions for the drug’s use on the container label.

Byrd and Bloch each face maximum penalties of 18 years imprisonment and fines of $1.5 million if convicted.

Amino Discounters, the alleged manufacturer, faces up to $5 million in fines if convicted. Penalties against Thierman, Cano and Hilton range up to 30 years in prison and $2.5 million in fines.