Drug Tests

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and owner Jeremy Mayfield has been suspended indefinitely after failing a random drug test administered at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway last week. "We have zero tolerance for violation of our substance-abuse policy," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communication. "We've made it very clear that we're going to stick to that. . . . Overall I think the random testing program is working.

World junior welterweight champion Lamont Peterson has tested positive for synthetic testosterone, jeopardizing his May 19 title defense against England's Amir Khan at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Keith Kizer, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and Richard Schaefer, Peterson's promoter, confirmed Tuesday they've been notified of the positive test by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Assn. Kizer received a letter Tuesday explaining the result from Peterson's attorney.

Shaun White slumps on a couch inside a cavernous chalet rented by one of his corporate sponsors. The millionaire snowboarder appears weary from a party thrown the previous night by another sponsor. It's Thursday afternoon and beyond the patio, on Aspen's Buttermilk Mountain, the Winter X Games have begun. White, 22, is two days from winning the popular slopestyle competition, and three days from repeating as halfpipe champion.

Goalkeeper Josh Saunders will be lost to the Galaxy for an indefinite period after being enrolled in Major League Soccer's substance abuse and behavioral health program. The Galaxy was informed Friday that Saunders would be unavailable to play until he completes a treatment protocol. Team officials insisted Tuesday that Saunders did not fail a league-administered drug test but have been evasive in explaining his absence. Saunders missed Saturday's tie with FC Dallas and is unavailable for Wednesday night's match in Seattle, with Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena saying only that the keeper was missing for "personal reasons.

One student plays the trumpet and French horn competitively. Another competes with her flute ensemble. A third has been raising his prized market hog for a livestock show. Under a policy adopted by a school district in Redding, Calif., about 200 miles north of San Francisco, those students are subject to random drug tests, like any others participating in competitive activities.

The chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission has ordered Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to take immediate out-of-competition urine tests, even as the sides bicker heatedly over a drug-testing policy that threatens to scrap their scheduled March 13 mega-fight in Las Vegas. Nevada Athletic Commission Chairman Pat Lundvall ordered Executive Director Keith Kizer to point Mayweather and Pacquiao to accredited drug-testing labs in the United States and Philippines, respectively, for tests that must be completed by Wednesday, Kizer told The Times.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants Manny Pacquiao to submit to Olympic-style drug tests, including a blood test within days of their tentatively scheduled March 13 bout, and failing to agree to these terms could threaten the fight, Mayweather's camp said Tuesday. Pacquiao has expressed reluctance to submit to a blood test within 30 days of the proposed world welterweight title fight, which will be staged at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. "As management for Floyd, we're insisting this Olympic-style, random [blood]

The privacy of a physician, bus driver, airline pilot or others holding positions affecting public health and/or safety is not more important than my life or the lives of others. People in those occupational categories should be required to have periodic drug tests. If they feel this is an invasion of their privacy they are free to resign, enter an occupation where they are not responsible for the safety and well-being of others, and snort, shoot up, or smoke themselves into oblivion.

There was a lectern set up behind home plate at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, just as it was nine months ago, when Manny Ramirez was ceremoniously introduced to Los Angeles. Only this time, Dodgers Manager Joe Torre was standing there, looking into a wall of television cameras and recalling how Ramirez sounded "devastated" when they spoke earlier in the day. General Manager Ned Colletti said he felt "sick and saddened."

The National Football League agreed today not to implement its new drug abuse program until an arbitrator decides whether Commissioner Pete Rozelle has the authority to require random drug testing. Richard Kasher will arbitrate a grievance filed by the union against the plan and he is expected to make a decision by mid-September.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott's attempt to force drug testing on state workers has been blocked by a federal judge, the latest development in a case seen as a bellwether for similar efforts involving employees and those receiving social service or welfare benefits. On Thursday, Federal District Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled that Scott's executive order violated constitutional guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure because it “does not identify a concrete danger that must be addressed by suspicionless drug testing.”  The Miami-based judge also wrote that the order should be struck down because “the governor shows no evidence of a drug-use problem at the covered agencies.” The decision will be appealed, Scott said in a statement emailed to reporters.

Dave Salo watched his swimmer show up for work every morning in the fall of 2008, armed with more than determination and a desire to erase the past and push the fast-forward button four years. But Jessica Hardy was not going to be able to settle or solve her issues in 24.48 seconds or 1:04.45, her personal bests in the 50-meter freestyle and 100 breaststroke. No amount of training, in or out of the pool, was going to influence the Court of Arbitration for Sport or the IOC regarding future Olympic eligibility for the Long Beach native, who missed the 2008 Games because of a positive drug test.

PHOENIX — If the jeers at the Dodgers' spring-training home Friday were any indication, Ryan Braun will be lustily booed when the Milwaukee Brewers visit Dodger Stadium in late May. But Braun said the thought hasn't crossed his mind. "No, not really, to be honest with you," Braun said. "It's one of my favorite places to play, growing up in L.A. and being a Dodger fan. I don't even know when we go back to Dodger Stadium. " Braun, who attended Granada Hills High, tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone during the playoffs last year.

Precedents matter — both in courtrooms and in commissioners' offices. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday decided the New Orleans Saints' bounty program — which paid players for injuring opponents — crossed that crucial threshold where transgressions threatened the integrity of the game. He suspended Saints Coach Sean Payton for the 2012 season. Goodell also imposed an indefinite suspension on former Saints and current St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, while Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight games and linebackers coach Joe Vitt for six games.

Saying "my name has been dragged through the mud," National League most valuable player Ryan Braun reported to spring training with the Milwaukee Brewers in Phoenix on Friday and declared he had been vindicated, a day after his 50-game suspension for a positive drug test was overturned by an arbitrator. Braun's teammates sat in the stands, in uniform, as he held a news conference on the field at the team's training complex. Braun said that, since what was supposed to be a confidential appeal was played out in public, "I've lived this nightmare every day for the last four months.

Reporting from Phoenix — Matt Kemp said Friday he was relieved to hear that Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers had successfully appealed his positive drug test and wouldn't be serving a 50-game suspension. "I was happy that he was not found guilty," Kemp said. "I know he's been going through a lot. Now, he and the Brewers can concentrate on just playing baseball, going about their business. " Kemp finished second to Braun in voting for the National League most valuable player last season.

The NCAA will conduct drug tests for athletes at all championship events despite a California judge's ruling that such a practice is unconstitutional, according to an NCAA spokesman in Kansas City. The tests will start Monday at the NCAA cross-country championships in Charlottesville, Va., the spokesman said. Superior Court Judge Conrad Rushing ruled this week in San Jose that the drug-testing program was unconstitutional because there was no "compelling need."

Senators called for expanded drug testing of train operators and new authority for federal regulators to deal with what an official described as widespread tampering with automatic safety devices on trains. Federal railroad officials, appearing at the first in a series of congressional hearings prompted by a Jan. 4 accident that killed 16 people, said the government is severely limited in what it can do.

Manny Ramirez found a taker in Oakland — at a bargain price. The suspended slugger agreed to a minor league contract Monday with the Athletics that is worth about $500,000 if he's added to the big league roster. The A's announced the deal and said Ramirez is expected to report to spring training by the end of the week, in time for Oakland's first full-squad workout Saturday. He is a non-roster invitee. The 12-time All-Star is due to serve a 50-game suspension for his second positive drug test before he can play for the A's. Barring rainouts, his first game could be May 30 -- on his 40th birthday.

Biotech giant Amgen, fresh off mixed earnings, said it will shell out $1.16 billion to broaden its product pipeline by buying fellow drug developer Micromet Inc. Thousand Oaks-based Amgen is already one of the world's premier pharmaceutical firms, but it's saddled with mostly older products, such as anemia treatment Epogen and arthritis medication Enbrel. Its portfolio is facing more competition and high expenses as similar products hit the market, analysts said. Amgen's profit in 2011 fell 20.4% year over year - largely because of higher costs - to about $3.7 billion, or $4.07 a share, the company said after the markets closed Thursday.