As if the negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement aren't tough enough and chock full of issues where the NFL owners and players stand on polar opposite sides. Now it appears that the owners may be insisting that HGH testing be included in the new agreement. With all the testing already in place for performance-enhancing drugs, HGH testing was never part of it, mainly because the other tests are all urine-based, while HGH testing must be done through blood draws.
The players have always balked at having their blood tested, and this news is surely not going to make their ability to work out a new deal any easier. HGH is produced naturally by the body and therefore, is tough to detect unless the hormone count is unusually high according to what is considered normal therapeutic levels. HGH can make a person build muscles faster and bigger, as well as improve a person's general well-being. It is also widely hailed as an anti-aging drug based on its reported various benefits, although the medical community is split about the long lasting possible negative side-effects.
Read more on this at the National Football Post and NFLLabor.com.