- HGH is not a steroid, it is a hormone - the counterpart to insulin.
- Byrd took HGH because of a medical condition (a thyroid tumor) that caused his body to not release the normal amount of HGH just as a diabetic takes Insulin when their body doesn't make the normal amount of Insulin
- Byrd has fully disclosed his use of HGH in his upcoming book and the teams he was playing for at the time were fully aware of his medical condition
- Byrd stopped taking HGH after it was banned from baseball despite the fact that he has a medical need to take it and most certainly will resume taking it for that medical need once his playing days are over.
The whole "breaking" of this "story" and the way ESPN is covering it looks like either a way to draw ratings or an attempt to distract the Indians for game 7 over a complete non-issue.
Any even nominal research would uncover the true story as the true story was out there long before this report. The sad part about all of this is Byrd seems to be a genuinely great guy and he's the one that's being picked to tear apart.
Would it get this kind of coverage if it was "discovered" a diabetic player had bought insulin? At least FOX took the time to find out what really happened.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7358706
Byrd said that three different doctors diagnosed him as suffering from adult growth-hormone deficiency. In spring training, he said, he was diagnosed with a tumor on his pituitary gland at the base of his brain, a condition that may have contributed to his deficiency, doctors told him.
"I have not taken any hormone apart from a doctor's care and supervision," Byrd said. "The Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time and have assisted me in getting blood tests in different states. I am currently working with an endocrinologist and will have another MRI on my head after the season to make sure that the tumor hasn't grown."
and
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of HGH only for specific conditions and diseases, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. The list includes adult growth-hormone deficiency