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MAJOR
LEAGUEBASEBALLPLAYERSASSOCIATION
DONALD
M.
FErm
EXECUTIVE
DIR"CTOR
12
EAST
49th
STREET
NEW
YORK,
NY
10017TEL.(212)826-0808FAX,(212)
752·3649
2July2008
Via
E-mail(Originalbymail)
Hon.Henry
A.
Waxman,ChairmanHon.TomDavis,RankingMemberCongress
of
theUnitedStatesHouse
of
RepresentativesCommitteeonOversightandGovernmentReform2157RayburnHouseOfficeBuildingWashington,D.C.20515DearChairmanWaxmanandRankingMemberDavis:Iwriteinresponsetoyourletter
of
June
12.
Beforerespondingtothequestionsposedinyourletter,however,IwouldliketoassureyouthatIwasconfidentmy2005testimonywasentirelyaccurateatthetimeIprovidedit.Sparkedbyyourlatestinquiry,Iaskedcounseltoreviewtherecord,andasaresult
of
thatreview,Iremainconfident.AsIsaidthen,use
of
illegalsteroidsdeclinedsignificantlyin2004,thedatasuggestsconvincinglythatthe2004programdidwork,and
no
playerknewwhenhewasgoingtobetested.Inaddition,however,Ialsowant
to
provideyouwithanoverview
of
theextraordinarysituationthatwefacedin2004.Much
of
thisinformationwassealedbycourtordersatthetime
of
theMarch2005hearing,buthassincebeenmadepublicinadecisionissuedbythe9
th
CircuitCourt
of
AppealsinDecember,2006(laterwithdrawn),andinareviseddecisionissuedbythesamepanelinJanuary2008.Accordingly,therearethingsIcansaytodaythatIcouldnothavesaidatthehearingin2005,anddoingthismayhelptodispelanyconcernsyoumayhave.InMajorLeagueBaseball,asyouarewellaware,suspicionlessdrugtestingwasacontroversialsubjectformanyyears.But,aspart
of
anewcollectivebargainingagreementreachedin2002,thepartiesagreedtherewouldberandomtestingforsteroids.Theagreementwereachedwasonethatattempted
to
strikeabalancebetweentheinterest
 
MAJOR
LEAGUEBASEBALLPLAYERS
ASSOCIATION
2
July
2008
Page
2
of10inconductingsuchtestsandtheprivacyintereststhatCongressandthefederalgovernmenthavesought
to
protectwhenestablishingtestingprogramsforfederalemployees.
By
way
of
background,theSupremeCourthaslongrecognizedthespecialprivacyinterestsimplicated
by
urinetesting
of
employees.
Skinner
v.
RailwayLaborExecutives'Assn.,
489U.S.
602
(1989).TheCourthasalsorecognizedthatunauthorizeddissemination
of
drugtestingresults
is
aseriousintrusiononprivacy.
Ferguson
v.
City
of
Charleston,
532U.S.67,78(2001).Congresshasalsobeenquitesensitivetotheneedtoguardtheconfidentiality
of
voluntarily-takendrugtests.See42U.S.C.290dd-2.AndthefederalgovernmenthasbeenverycarefulindeterminingwhichfederalemployeesaresubjecttorandomtestingundertheDrug-FreeWorkplaceAct,
41
U.S.C.Sec
701
et
1
seq
..
Thefirsttestingperformedunderour2002JointDrugAgreement(JDA)withMajorLeagueBaseballwas"surveytesting"donein2003.Undertheterms
of
theJDA(votedonandratified
by
theplayers)thesetestswere
to
bebothconfidentialandanonymous;
no
onewaseversupposedtoknow
who
testedpositive.Instead,theresultswere
to
be
tabulatedand
if
thenumber
of
positivesexceededaspecificthreshold(5%),identified"programtesting,"withdisciplinaryconsequences,wastobeginthenextyear.Asyouknow,the2003testsyieldedannmber
of
positivesslightlyabovethe
5%
threshold,and
as
adirectconsequence
of
thatresultprogramtestingcommencedin2004.Theresults
of
the2004programtestingwere
as
previouslyreportedtoyou.
It
is
importanttorememberthatundertheagreementinplacefor2004,eachplayerwastobetestedonetime
--
andonlyonetime
--
onanunannouncedbasis.Obviously,thismeantthatonceaplayerwastestedin2004,
he
knewthat
he
wouldnot
be
testedagainthatyear.Sincethen,
as
youareaware,wehaveamendedtheJDAthreetimes,andnowaplayer
is
alwayssubjecttoadditionaltesting,
no
matterhowmanytimes
he
hasalreadybeentested
in
agivenyear.In2004,thetestingprogramwasrun
by
theHealthPolicyAdvisoryCommittee(HPAC),ajointlabor-managementcommittee.
2
UnderHPAC'sdirection,testingin2004didnotbeginuntilJuly,
for
anumber
of
reasons.Becausethetestinghaddisciplinaryconsequences(in
2003
itdidnot)themauner
in
whichthetestingwas
to
be
conductedhad
to
havethehighestdegree
of
qualitycontrol.
HPAC
hadtoconsidera.myriad
of
issues,fromthequality
of
testingkits
to
thelocationandsupervisionoftestingvenues,butprincipalamongtheseweretheperceivedneedforaWADA-certifiedlaboratorytoconducttheanalysis,alongwiththeadoption
of
atestingprotocol.The
I
SeeMemorandumfromtheInteragencyCoordinatingGroupExecutiveCommitteetoFederalAgencies,Guidanceforselection
of
TestingDesignatedPositionsII1(D)(l)(Augnst2,1999)
availableat
http://dwp.samhsa.gov/FedPgms/FilesITDPs.aspx.
2
Iwasnotamember
ofHPAC.
 
MAJOR
LEAGUEBASEBALLPLAYERS
ASSOCIATION
2
July
2008
Page
3
of10contractwiththeWADAlabinMontrealwasnotfinalizeduntilMay
9,
andtheprotocolworkedoutandtestingkitagreeduponthereafter.
3
In
implementingthetestingprogram,however,
HP
AC
believedthatbecauseaplayerwouldonly
be
testedonetime,anydelay
in
beginningthetestingwouldactuallyhaveabeneficialeffect.Deterrencewouldlastlonger,becauseonceaplayerwastested,
he
wouldknowthat
he
wasnotsubjecttobeingtestedagainin2004.
4
It
perhapscould
go
withoutsaying,butobviously
no
playerwastoldthattestingwouldnotcommenceonopeningday,and
so
everyplayerfromthestart
of
theseasonhadreasontobelieve
he
might
be
testedonanyday
of
theseason.
In
fact,onMarch
17,
2004,theCommissioner'sOfficeandtheMLBPAsentajointmemo
to
allplayerswhichsaidthatprogramtesting"willbeginshortly."Earlyinthe2004season,however,andbeforetestingbegan,developmentsforced
usto
confrontaverydifficultandnnanticipatedsituation.As
we
toldSenatorMitchell:Because
of
certainactions
by
theGovernment
in
2004(whichledtolitigation,much
of
whichhasbeenunderseal),thepartieswereforcedtoconfrontaseriousthreattotheconfidentialityandintegrity
of
ourprogram.Tocombatthatthreat,andindeedtosavethecredibility
of
ourprogram,thepartiesundertookcertainmeasuresinthatyearonly.(MitchellReport
p.
284)Theevents
in
questioncommencedonApril
8,
2004,whenthefederalgovernmentexecutedasearchwarrantandseizedmaterialsfromthecompanythatadministeredourprogram,ComprehensiveDrugTesting,Inc.(CDT).Althoughthewarrantnamedonly
10
playersandsoughtonlyinformationrelatedtothosespecificindividuals(thoughttohavesomeconnection
to
acompanyknown
as
BALCO),thegovernmentseizedall
of
CDT'sbaseballrecords,includingrecordsrelated
to
thetesting
of
everyMajorLeagueplayer(morethan1,100)in2003.Thegovernmentdidnotstopthere,butalsoseizedthousands
of
otherrecords
of
individualsinthirteenothermajor(non-baseball)sportsorganizations,threeunaffiliatedbusinessentities,andthreesportscompetitions.
(513
F.3dat1116-7.)A
few
weekslater,thegovernmentexecutedadditionalsearchwarrantsboth
at
CDTandatQuestDiagnostic,Inc.,thelaboratorywherethespecimensfromour
2003
surveytestshadbeenanalyzedandwerebeingkept.Thegovernmentalsoissuedgrand
3
Onefeature
of
the2004testingthatprovedparticularlyproblematicalfromaschedulingstandpointwasthe"pairedtesting"feature
of
the2004program,underwhicheveryplayerwouldbetested5-7daysafterhewasinitiallytestedinordertoprovideaurinesamplethatwouldinformthequestionwhetheraninitiallypositivesampleshouldbeattributedtothelawful,andnotprohibited,ingestion
of
alegalnutritionalsupplement(recallthatandrostenedionewasalegalsubstanceinthatyear).
4
TheMitchellReportindicatedthatthepartiesagreedona"moratorium"ontestingearlyinthe2004season(MitchellReportat28I).Iwouldnotcharacterize
it
thatway.Asnotedabove,forreasonsunrelatedtothegovernment'sactions,HPACdidnotbegintestingearlyinthe2004season.
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