Why Dr. Galea, Why?

One thing is clear in reading the Anthony Galea charges filed Tuesday: Tiger Woods is not named in the complaint, nor is there any evidence presented that he was the recipient of the special knee potion that the doctor cooked up for his NFL clients, leading to the charges filed against Galea. The only possible reference to Tiger appears to be under the name Athlete D, when Galea visited Orlando on August 3rd.

That said, it's worth a look to go back and read the original December, 2009 New York Times story on Galea by Don Van Natta Jr., Michael S. Schmidt and Ian Austen. You may recall that Galea revealed the extent of his relationship with Woods. Now that the charges have been filed and several bits shared, the article takes on new dimensions.

This bit is interesting considering that the charges filed suggest Galea was called in when athletes' rehabs weren't going as well as hoped.

Dr. Galea said Mr. Woods was referred to him by the golfer’s agents at Cleveland-based International Management Group, who were alarmed at the slow pace of Mr. Woods’s rehabilitation after knee surgery in June 2008.

And the therapy Galea created, say the charges, was designed specifically to speed up healing. From Mike Fish's ESPN story today, reporting on the cooperating witnesses' statements:

Catalano told authorities that in his trips to the States, Galea typically performed two procedures on the athletes, both appearing to be an attempt to speed up healing. The first featured a cocktail mixture containing numerous medicines including Nutropin [human growth hormone], which would be injected into an athlete's injured knee. She described the cocktail as also containing Traumeel, vitamin B-12, Lymphomyosot and Procaine.

Agent Mark Steinberg later made clear no one at IMG recommended Galea nor were there indications Tiger's knee wasn't right. Furthermore he suggested that "the treatment Tiger received is a widely accepted therapy and to suggest some connection with illegality is recklessly irresponsible."

Tiger said the introduction was made by his rehab therapist, who he declined to identify, but there was one quoted in the same New York Times story taking credit for making the introduction:

In February, discouraged by the lack of progress, Dr. Lindsay asked Dr. Galea to look at Mr. Woods, who was suffering from patellar tendinitis and had scarring in the muscle. “It’s common after the A.C.L. to have tendinitis,” Dr. Lindsay said. “And the P.R.P. helped.”

Dr. Galea said he treated Mr. Woods in his home four or five times with a borrowed centrifuge from an Orlando doctor. Each time, he said he drew blood from Woods, spun it to increase the platelets’ count and then injected a small amount directly into Mr. Woods’s left knee.

Two days after the first treatment, Woods texted him, Dr. Galea said: “He said he couldn’t believe how good he feels. He’d joke and say, ‘I can jump up on the kitchen table,’ and I said, ‘Please don’t.’ ”

Here's where Galea's credibility takes a hit, with witnesses reportedly prepared to testify and contradict this, from the December New York Times story:

Dr. Galea said he used Actovegin to treat the injuries of some of his patients, including players on the Toronto Argonauts football team, for which he has been the team doctor since 2004. Dr. Galea said he did not use Actovegin to treat Mr. Woods or other United States athletes.

From Fish's ESPN.com story on Tuesday's complaint against Galea:

Catalano told authorities she had made 23 border crossings within the previous six months and, according to documents, on each occasion transported "the same medical supplies" that were in her possession when she was stopped in September.

 In last August alone, she told authorities that Galea made 13 stops in the U.S. to treat athletes. In three separate trips to Cleveland between Aug. 27 and Sept. 11, she identified 11 pro athletes he treated. Only two were identified with HGH therapy, while most of the others were said to have received a recovery IV drip containing various vitamins and Actovegin.

And of course, this statement from the December New York Times story looks dreadful based on the expected testimony to the contrary:

Dr. Galea blames his current legal problems on his success rate.

“All these athletes come see me in Canada cause I fix them, and I think people just assume that I’m giving them stuff,” he said. “They don’t have to come to me to get H.G.H. and steroids. You can walk into your local gym in New York and get H.G.H.”

We now know the athletes weren't coming to him, but instead, he was traveling to them and his services weren't cheap.

Which again (and forever) begs the question, if blood platelet spinning was readily available, why did these athletes and their representatives seek out someone who was known for helping to speed up the process through his special house calls, instead of receiving the treatment from reputable doctors licensed to practice in the United States?