Friday, September 03, 2004

A Name for Giambi's Pain

Giambi Tumor is in Pituitary (NY Daily News, TJ Quinn): "The reason for his secrecy was simple, a source said: After testifying before a grand jury in the BALCO steroid-trafficking case and having to deny repeated rumors about steroid use, Giambi was worried that a pituitary tumor would take him guilty by association, according to a source.

"Pituitary tumors have been anecdotally associated with anabolic steroid and human growth hormone use, but medical experts say there has been no documented connection.

"'Can you blame him?' the source asked."


That hasn't stopped Giambi's detractors in the press before...

It's a shame, and possibly a violation of Giambi's HIPAA rights, that anonymous MLB sources would tell the world what kind of tumor he has. Then again, the fact that such a leak was pretty much inevitable is one of the better arguments for transparency in these cases -- revealing the nature of the illness yourself means not having to answer the question "what do you have to hide?"

Either way, our prayers are with Jason, not praying that he make it back with the team for the postseason (although I admit that would be nice), but that he be well, and be able to live his life.

On a side note, although the leakers at MLB might be schmucks for revealing Giambi's condition against his will, the Daily News is not being irresponsible in reporting the news. Giambi's physical state is news, and it's not the Daily News' moral or ethical responsibility to keep Jason's secret.

UPDATE: I corrected the authorship of the Daily News story, where T.J. Quinn is merely credited with an assist from Bill Madden (I originally had Madden writing the piece). I also wanted to note that the article featured some pretty good discussion of the difference between corticosteroids and anabolic steroids, and clarified MLB's position on players who need to receive steroids as part of medical treatment (like Giambi).

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