Oregon Public Broadcasting

A Willamette University professor testified before Congress Tuesday regarding a weight-loss supplement that’s under scrutiny at the NFL. April Baer reports.

This year two players for the Minnesota Vikings were suspended for taking StarCaps. It’s a diuretic, but contains a substance that can mask the  presence of steroids.

The ensuing legal dispute came out in the players’ favor, finding they deserved more protection from drug testing under a Minnesota state law.

Willamette law professor  Jeff Standen told the House Energy and Commerce  Committee that the NFL deserves some consideration in this case.

Jeff Standen: "This decision really threatened the integrity of the NFL's anti-doping policies,a nd really, by extension, those of other professional sports leagues, and the NCAA."

Standen argues that NFL rules should apply nationwide, no matter what state a team is playing in.

Allowing different states' drug testing laws to predominate would give some teams unfair advantage.