Wejo: A Critique of Your Story on Dr. Galea is in Order

What I have issue with is the part of wejo's story that mentions his hip muscles "were firing out of order." And that a special cool machine was involved.

That makes no physiologic sense and smacks of chiropractic nonsense that sounds trendy and wondrous to someone - like a circus trick. I have no beef with ethical chiros, but what muscles were firing and in what particular order? Nonsense made up to impress clients who are desperate for a cure.

These four paragraphs of the ESPN story are particularly disturbing (sorry if I'm late to this - been so busy with work I just got a chance to read it). What are we supposed to believe when the great 'healer' and internationally acclaimed sports doctor uses a 'bag man' in the form of his assistant to move illegal drugs across the border??

According to federal documents, Catalano, 32, declared under questioning by U.S. border authorities that she had medical supplies in her vehicle. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents inspected her Nissan Rogue and found 20 vials and 76 ampoules of unknown misbranded drugs -- including human growth hormone -- and foreign labeled homeopathic drugs, 111 syringes, a diagnostic ultrasound computer, miscellaneous documents and a laptop computer. Agents notified investigators with the Food and Drug Administration.

"He was flying off to a medical conference or a meeting and she was driving, and she was going to meet up with him," Preobrazenski said of Galea, his former client. "That is all it is. This guy isn't some charlatan. We're talking about someone who is respected by his peers."

Catalano, who waived her rights before agreeing to speak with border agents, admitted she knew the items she was attempting to bring into the U.S. were "illegal" and that she was doing this for her employer, who is not identified in her case documents. She also told agents that her employer asked her to attempt to bring the items in because he had been flagged previous times at the border.

She told authorities she knew her employer wasn't licensed in the United States and that it would be illegal for him to administer inside the country. She added that they were to meet up after crossing the border into the U.S.

According to the criminal complaint, Catalano also revealed to agents that she'd been told by her employer that "if she was questioned about the purpose of her trip, she should say that they were coming to the United States for a conference with other medical professionals and that none of the equipment she was bringing into the United States was for treating patients."

Here's the Toronto Sun report today. Galea apparently has already been formally charged. Is it normal practice in the medical field to keep 'unmarked' vials of drugs in your clinic?

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/12/17/12184141-sun.html

I bet it's one of those things that is prohibited but happens anyways. Chemists aren't supposed to have unlabeled beakers or flasks around the laboratory--in fact, it's prohibited by OSHA--but it happens all the time.

Perfectly legitimate. That machine is called an electromyograph, and there are many studies that use it it examine muscle firing patterns during the gait cycle.

Here's one that shows that the firing pattern of the peroneus longus (everts the foot) changes after you sprain your ankle:

I bet this doctor was using it in a similar way.

How about trying Five Finger "shoes" to end your running pain?

I think this deadspin piece touches on what I was trying to say:

http://deadspin.com/5427249/new-york-times-gets-a-piece-of-the-tiger-action-with-its-hysterical-ped-story

and that is just because Tiger saw some doctor who was stopped at the border doesn't mean he's a doper.

Galea very well may be proven to be a doper. Smuggling drugs into the US isn't a good start but as my case shows many people went and saw this guy for legitimate reasons.

The hysteria of putting this on page A1 of the NY Times(when the guy was arrested 2 months ago) is my main gripe with the article. Galea was arrested 2 months ago, everyone knew then he treated Tiger. Yet, now somehow because of Tiger mania it becomes an A1 story in the Times?

wejo wrote:

I think this deadspin piece touches on what I was trying to say:

http://deadspin.com/5427249/new-york-times-gets-a-piece-of-the-tiger-action-with-its-hysterical-ped-story

and that is just because Tiger saw some doctor who was stopped at the border doesn't mean he's a doper.

Galea very well may be proven to be a doper. Smuggling drugs into the US isn't a good start but as my case shows many people went and saw this guy for legitimate reasons.

The hysteria of putting this on page A1 of the NY Times(when the guy was arrested 2 months ago) is my main gripe with the article. Galea was arrested 2 months ago, everyone knew then he treated Tiger. Yet, now somehow because of Tiger mania it becomes an A1 story in the Times?

I believe you that you went to Galea for legitimate reasons, and that most athletes (if not all) that saw him did the same. And I'll concede the point that the NY Times ran with the story because of the connection to Tiger. But it is also true that a prominent sports med doc getting caught allegedly smuggling a banned drug (Actovegin) into the U.S., and claiming to be personal HGH user is hardly a 'non-story'. Just because no one in the U.S. gives a crap about the players on the Toronto Argonauts doesn't mean this isn't a big story in the sports world.

And what's with Deadspin saying HGH isn't a performance-enhancer? I thought the scientific consensus is that HGH is a performance enhancer? Regardless, it is banned for athletes and since Galea's primary client base is elite athletes, it was, at a minimum, poor judgment on his part to be stocking up on the stuff for his 'personal' use.