Nelson Vergel
Founder, ExcelMale.com
I am happy to be alive to confirm all this truly happened. Knowing him saved my life.
It was June 1st, 1994. Dr. Michael Dullnig’s guests were having a great time drinking champagne, listening to music, and talking with the guest of honor – the doctor himself. This, he thought, is the best party of my life. Dullnig made his way around the crowd, posed for pictures, and discussed the future of his work; it was centered around medical treatment for AIDS-related wasting. The focus was on anabolic steroids. The alcohol was flowing, and everyone took advantage of their chance to get together with Michael on his big day.
But this wasn’t Dr. Dullnig’s birthday party – it was his deathday party.
As the evening drew to a close, the doctor walked to his bedroom carrying a cup of his favorite yogurt – which he’d laced with a fatal dose of Demerol. He consumed the mixture, lay down, and died.
Dr. Dullnig wouldn’t be told how and when his life would end – especially not by human immunodeficiency virus. His health had been deteriorating over the past few weeks. His compromised immune system allowed a mild rash to bloom into head-to-toe agony, followed by cytomegalovirus retinitis. As scary as that name is, it may actually be worse than it sounds. The prognosis is pain, lots of it, followed by blindness, and eventually death.
Although he had likely contracted HIV in 1982, it wasn’t discovered until 1991 when he was hospitalized with pneumonia. Within two months he’d lost 45 pounds and found out he was HIV-positive. As a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Baylor Medical School, and member of Phi Beta Kappa, he knew that lean body mass is directly related to survival rate (not just for HIV, but for any wasting disease). A paltry 5% muscle loss can increase the chance of infection as well as morbidity. A 33% muscle loss is totally incompatible with survival. He was down 25% and counting. He knew he had to do something to stop losing muscle. But he needed to do more. Stopping the muscle loss wasn’t enough; he needed to stop it, then reverse it – he needed to increase his muscle mass. To survive, Dr. Dullnig would have to gain muscle. Note that this is medical steroid use and not steroid abuse.
With confidence gained from having nothing to lose, he began experimenting with anabolic steroids. As a doctor, he knew that the best way to gain muscle (pharmacologically speaking) is through anabolic steroids. A prescription for anabolic steroids, he figured, could potentially be the first step in reversing his rapid weight loss. Regrettably, he couldn’t write himself a prescription. In the year prior to Dr. Dullnig’s diagnosis, anabolic steroids became “defined” as Schedule III controlled substances in a peculiar (never-before-seen) modification to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Doctors writing their own prescription for a controlled substance is a big no-no.
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It was June 1st, 1994. Dr. Michael Dullnig’s guests were having a great time drinking champagne, listening to music, and talking with the guest of honor – the doctor himself. This, he thought, is the best party of my life. Dullnig made his way around the crowd, posed for pictures, and discussed the future of his work; it was centered around medical treatment for AIDS-related wasting. The focus was on anabolic steroids. The alcohol was flowing, and everyone took advantage of their chance to get together with Michael on his big day.
But this wasn’t Dr. Dullnig’s birthday party – it was his deathday party.
As the evening drew to a close, the doctor walked to his bedroom carrying a cup of his favorite yogurt – which he’d laced with a fatal dose of Demerol. He consumed the mixture, lay down, and died.
Dr. Dullnig wouldn’t be told how and when his life would end – especially not by human immunodeficiency virus. His health had been deteriorating over the past few weeks. His compromised immune system allowed a mild rash to bloom into head-to-toe agony, followed by cytomegalovirus retinitis. As scary as that name is, it may actually be worse than it sounds. The prognosis is pain, lots of it, followed by blindness, and eventually death.
Although he had likely contracted HIV in 1982, it wasn’t discovered until 1991 when he was hospitalized with pneumonia. Within two months he’d lost 45 pounds and found out he was HIV-positive. As a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Baylor Medical School, and member of Phi Beta Kappa, he knew that lean body mass is directly related to survival rate (not just for HIV, but for any wasting disease). A paltry 5% muscle loss can increase the chance of infection as well as morbidity. A 33% muscle loss is totally incompatible with survival. He was down 25% and counting. He knew he had to do something to stop losing muscle. But he needed to do more. Stopping the muscle loss wasn’t enough; he needed to stop it, then reverse it – he needed to increase his muscle mass. To survive, Dr. Dullnig would have to gain muscle. Note that this is medical steroid use and not steroid abuse.
With confidence gained from having nothing to lose, he began experimenting with anabolic steroids. As a doctor, he knew that the best way to gain muscle (pharmacologically speaking) is through anabolic steroids. A prescription for anabolic steroids, he figured, could potentially be the first step in reversing his rapid weight loss. Regrettably, he couldn’t write himself a prescription. In the year prior to Dr. Dullnig’s diagnosis, anabolic steroids became “defined” as Schedule III controlled substances in a peculiar (never-before-seen) modification to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Doctors writing their own prescription for a controlled substance is a big no-no.
Anabolic Steroid Pioneer Dr. Michael Dullnig and the Evolution of Steroid Laws
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