Senate plans hearings next month in response to The Star-Ledger three-part series 'Strong at Any Cost' while state Attorney General investigates
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Citing the misuse of tax dollars and a potential danger to the public, N.J. lawmakers on Monday pushed for an investigation and legislative action following revelations of steroid use by hundreds of New Jersey law enforcement officers and firefighters.
In the Assembly, deputy speaker John McKeon called on Attorney General Paula Dow to open a criminal inquiry into what he called the illegal procurement of steroids and human growth hormone, as well as an examination of the problem’s extent.
Sens. Richard Codey and Loretta Weinberg, meanwhile, said they would hold a hearing on the issue before the Senate health committee in January. In addition, Weinberg (D-Bergen) said she would introduce legislation aimed at making it more difficult for officers and firefighters to fraudulently obtain the drugs with the aid of doctors.
"We’ve got to go after this — and go after it hard," said Codey (D-Essex).
The lawmakers’ actions came in response to a seven-month Star-Ledger investigation that found at least 248 officers and firefighters had obtained steroids, growth hormone and other muscle-building drugs from a Jersey City doctor who often falsified diagnoses to justify his prescriptions for the substances.
The newspaper also found the officers and firefighters used their government benefits to pay for the drugs in most, if not all, cases, leaving taxpayers with a bill in the millions of dollars.
"These people should go to jail," McKeon (D-Essex) said in a statement. "They shouldn’t be on the public dole for substances that are, for the most part, illegal and might constitute insurance fraud."
A three-part Star-Ledger series on the secret world of steroid use by law enforcement officers and firefighters.
• About this series
• List of law enforcement agencies, fire departments
• Glossary of terms
Part 1: Sunday
• N.J. doctor supplied steroids to hundreds of law enforcement officers, firefighters
• Five deaths in 19 months linked to steroids, Lowen's pharmacy
• Legal cases linked to N.J. police who received steroids through Dr. Colao
• Ex-Jets quarterback Ray Lucas was prescribed steroids, HGH by Dr. Colao
Part 2: Monday
• N.J. taxpayers get bill for millions in steroid, growth hormone prescriptions for cops, firefighters
• Ex-Harrison firefighter on disability works full-time for N.C. fire department
• N.J. lawmaker calls on attorney general to investigate steroids, HGH use among law enforcement
Part 3: Today
• Booming anti-aging business relies on risky mix of steroids, growth hormone
In an interview, McKeon added that taxpayers also have been saddled with the ancillary costs associated with steroid use by public employees. Those costs include the treatment of officers and firefighters who develop steroid-related health problems and the settlement of lawsuits arising from episodes of increased aggression, a hallmark of steroid use.
"This is just an abomination, really," McKeon said. "It should never happen again."
The Star-Ledger’s three-part series, "Strong At Any Cost," showed that few law enforcement and fire agencies across the nation randomly test for steroids, as they do for cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs. In New Jersey, officials could not name one agency that conducts random steroid testing.
Some lawmakers Monday said testing should be considered as a statewide remedy.
"Maybe it’s time to put together a policy requiring law enforcement to do that," said Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), chairman of the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. Johnson is a former Englewood police officer and Bergen County sheriff.
"Law enforcement officers are carrying guns," Johnson said. "They have the authority to use force, and sometimes deadly force. There’s a lot of responsibility we give to these individuals, and if their abilities are altered, then it’s a problem."
Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Union) said lawmakers also should examine how to prevent doctors from indiscriminately prescribing substances when they’re not medically necessary.
"That kind of abuse shouldn’t be able to go under the radar," Bramnick said. "That should never go on for years."
In the Senate, Weinberg said she would sponsor a bill that would bar the State Health Benefits Plan from paying for steroids or growth hormone unless prescribed by endocrinologists, specially trained doctors who treat hormone disorders. The state plan is essentially a giant self-insurance fund covering more than half of New Jersey’s cities, towns and school districts.
Dow, New Jersey’s top law enforcement officer, said in a brief interview she would raise the issue of steroid use today with county prosecutors, with whom she had a previously scheduled meeting. She said she also will examine the issue of steroid testing and whether her office needs to update state drug-testing guidelines to explicitly include the word "steroids."
"It definitely has to be studied," Dow said.
Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the attorney general, said in a separate interview that Dow had received McKeon’s letter calling for a criminal probe.
"It’s obviously something we’ll be looking at very closely," Loriquet said.
The Star-Ledger investigation found the officers and firefighters obtained the drugs from Jersey City physician Joseph Colao, whose clients represent more than 50 agencies, including municipal departments, the state Department of Corrections, the State Police, the NJ Transit Police Department and county sheriff’s and corrections departments.
Colao died of heart failure at age 45 in August 2007. The newspaper found many of his clients immediately sought out other doctors who specialize in prescribing steroids and growth hormone. The findings have prompted Hoboken Public Safety Director Angel Alicea to launch an investigation of steroid use in the city police department. The newspaper found at least 10 city officers and two Hoboken firefighters received steroids from Colao.
Alicea said he also would push forward with his own plans to institute a random steroid testing policy regardless of direction from the state.
"It’s very concerning," he said. "We’re out there arresting people for having possession of steroids, and yet the officers are doing the same thing. You don’t want to tarnish the public trust."