The embattled Toronto doctor used by a bevy of star athletes, including Tiger Woods and Mets stars Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, has resigned as the Toronto Argonauts' team doctor.
Dr. Tony Galea, who is under investigation for smuggling drugs, including human growth hormone, across the U.S. border, quit his post in February, according to the Argonauts, just as the investigation began to include some of his famous clients. FBI agents have interviewed Beltran and Reyes and plan to talk to Yankee star Alex Rodriguez, as the Daily News first reported earlier this week. Rodriguez worked closely with Galea's associsate, Canadian chiropractor Mark Lindsay, as he recovered from hip surgery last year. Rodriguez has not said whether he also worked with Galea.
Agents are also interested in interviewing Woods, who flew Galea to his Florida home last year to administer a treatment called platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP), also known as blood-spinning, in an effort to speed recovery from a knee injury. PRP is not an illegal procedure, although Galea is being investigated in Florida for practicing without a medical license.
"Dr. Galea resigned as our team doctor in early February and we accepted his resignation," an Argo spokesperson said. "He did not offer a reason for his resignation." Galea, who also treated several NFL and NHL stars, had been with the team for six years. Sportsnet.ca, a Canadian sports Web site, first reported Galea’s resignation from the Argonauts.
Galea has been charged by Canadian officials with conspiring to smuggle human growth hormone and the drug Actovegin into the United States, conspiracy to smuggle prohibited goods into Canada, unlawfully selling Actovegin and smuggling goods into Canada in violation of the Customs Act. Galea was arrested and his office was raided last year after American authorities found illegal drugs, including human growth hormone, and medical supplies in a car driven by his former assistant, Mary Anne Catalano. Catalano told authorities that Galea asked her to carry the drugs across the border because "he had been flagged" and because he does not have a license to practice medicine in the United States. Catalano is cooperating with authorities.
Galea was arrested in Toronto on Oct. 15 after a search warrant was executed at the Institute of Sports Medicine Health and Wellness Centre in Toronto, of which he is the director. He appeared briefly in a Toronto court last December, and his lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said on the steps of the courthouse that day that his client had done not treated athletes with illegal drugs and would be vindicated.
Catalano was stopped and had her car searched last September, and according to documents, border sgents found 20 vials, 101 syringes and 76 ampoules of unknown, misbranded drugs, including Nutropin (a form of human growth hormone), a medical centrifuge and an ultrasound computer. Catalano is scheduled to appear at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Buffalo on March 12 to determine if she will face charges. She is co-operating with officials.
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