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The 51-year-old Galea says that he's taken HGH
-- which is banned by the major sports -- for a decade because it can improve the quality of life for people over 40. He became the focus of authorities' attention last year when his assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, was stopped at the border. U.S. federal court documents say "20 vials and 76 ampoules of unknown misbranded drugs including Nutropin (Human Growth Hormone
-- HGH) and foreign homeopathic drugs" were found in a car Catalano was driving. But Galea said Catalano only could have had a tiny, half-empty bottle or one ampoule of HGH. An ampoule is a small sealed vial which is used to contain and preserve a sample. He displayed such a bottle in his office: It was smaller than an adult's pinkie finger. "It's so small," he said. "If you're going to give it to an elite athlete they would need a minimum of three bottles of this a week for six months." Galea was arrested Oct. 15 after a search warrant was executed at the Institute of Sports Medicine Health and Wellness Centre in Toronto. He is charged with selling Actovegin, conspiracy to import an unapproved drug, conspiracy to export a drug and smuggling goods into Canada. U.S. court documents say Catalano waived her right to remain silent when speaking to border officers and admitted that she knew the items she was bringing into the U.S. were illegal and that she was doing it for her employer. She also told them that Galea admitted he had problems attempting to import the same items into the U.S. on previous occasions, according to the documents. Catalano is cooperating with investigators and has a court hearing scheduled for Friday. Calvin Berry, her lawyer, said he's confident they'll drop the charges against her because of her cooperation. Galea said the story of his case is being hyped up because some in the U.S. are resentful that a Canadian doctor is treating such high-profile athletes in Canada. "There's reasons people put legs on it. Obama's trying to bring in a health care system like ours and the private sector is trying to say it's a lousy system. It doesn't look good if the icons of sports are coming up to a Canadian health care system," Galea said. "They want a story and they got it," he said. "They already destroyed and embarrassed my children, embarrassed me."
[Associated
Press;
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