Baseball star LA Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez was suspended for 50 games after a drug test showed positive results for a banned performance enhancing drug. Ramirez had earlier tested positive during the spring training and a “B” Sample also tested positive recently. The suspension will cost him $8 million out of his $25 million salary. Ramirez said that he was not sure that he was taking a banned drug and he had been prescribed the drug by a doctor for a personal medical problem. He did not challenge the suspension and said “Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy, that mistake is now my responsibility.” Sources said that the drug was HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin, a drug used by women with fertility problems. The drug increases production of testosterone and is used to treat erectile dysfunction caused by low testosterone levels. Low testosterone levels can be caused by steroid abuse. It should be noted that safe medication like levitra is available to treat erectile dysfunction. Another doctor said that gonadotropin is used to treat testicles that have basically stopped functioning especially in men with a history of steroid use. The drug itself is neither a steroid nor a growth agent. Ramirez is the highest profile casualty of the stricter drug policy that MLB is now enforcing. HCG was added to the banned list by the MLB recently.”It’s not infrequently part of the mix of the poly-drug approach to doping,” said Dr. Gary Wadler, chairman of the banned substances committee for the World Anti-Doping Agency. Another MLB official said that if Ramirez had a genuine need for the drug, he could have applied for a medical exemption but no such application was made.