Palmeiro to release information to Congress

Rafael Palmeiro has agreed to give Congress documents with information about his positive test for steroids, including the results, dates of the screening and other relevant details.

The Baltimore Orioles slugger tested positive for the powerful steroid stanozolol, a person with knowledge of the sport's drug-testing program told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday. The person did not want to be identified because the sport prohibits disclosure about test results without authorization.

Government Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman of California issued a statement Wednesday saying Palmeiro has "pledged his full cooperation" with their inquiry.

"The Committee is seeking the results of the drug tests, the date of the tests, and other relevant information," the statement said. "He has agreed to authorize the release of all relevant documents to the Committee, which will help us fully understand the facts of the situation. Once we review the documents, we will determine our next step."

In confirming that he would cooperate with the committee, Palmeiro said that if it has any additional questions, "I am ready and willing to answer each and every one of them."

Baseball spokesman Rich Levin said the documents would be released as requested "in a timely manner," but did not give specifics and did not know if they would be made public once received.

Palmeiro, who testified before a congressional panel in March that he "never used steroids," became baseball's highest-profile player to receive a 10-day suspension Monday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

The positive test came after Palmeiro's appearance before Congress in March but before he recorded his 3,000th hit last month. That means he reached the milestone - joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers - after he knew about the positive results, the source told the AP.

"I find it pretty amazing if this was a test that was scored months and months and months ago," said Rep. Cristopher Shays of Connecticut, the No. 2 Republican on the Government Reform Committee.

"Why take so long is beyond me," he said Wednesday. "It's just another example of how the players rule. If someone tests positive, the determination should be much quicker and the punishment should be much more severe."

Stanozolol, known by the brand name Winstrol, is most notably linked to the Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada, who was stripped of his 100-meter gold medal in 1988. It is not available in over-the-counter supplements and is known as a powerful strength-builder, casting doubt on Palmeiro's claims that he ingested the drug unwittingly.

In medicine, stanozolol has been used to treat a rare genetic disorder called hereditary angioedema, which causes episodes of swelling in body parts, most notably the hands, feet, face and airway passages. Side effects include a risk of liver damage, acne, facial hair growth and muscle growth.

But several doctors who treat the disease said Wednesday that they've switched to other drugs in part because stanozolol has been hard to obtain routinely. Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. has the exclusive United States rights to manufacture the drug, but stopped making it two years ago, company president Jeff Aronin said.

Palmeiro was the seventh player to fall under baseball's new, tougher steroids policy; Seattle Mariners right-hander Ryan Franklin became the eighth when he was also suspended 10 days for a violation Tuesday.

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AP writers Howard Fendrich in Washington and Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this story.