'N.Y. Times' Uncovers Discrepancies in Bio for Baseball's Top Doc

By: (AP) Major League Baseball's medical adviser, who praised baseball's steroids policy and challenged its critics while testifying before Congress, has discrepancies in biographical statements about his professional and educational credentials, reports The New York Times.

The discrepancies appear in media guides and handouts with information about Dr. Elliot J. Pellman, an internist who is also team doctor for the New York Jets and the New York Islanders, the Times reported in a story posted on its Web site Tuesday night.

Pellman, also a former president of the National Football League Physicians Society, told the Times he had not tried to mislead anybody. He characterized the errors as minor, said he would correct them, and primarily blamed the discrepancies on other people, including his secretary and the Jets.

"In a way, I thank you, because those discrepancies are not important enough to be there, and they have all been fixed," he told the newspaper.

Pellman's bio in the New York Jets media guide states he has a medical degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. But the Times report said state records show Pellman attended medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico, and received a medical degree from the New York State Education Department after a one-year residency at SUNY-Stony Brook. He does not hold an M.D. from Stony Brook, according to Dan Rosett, a university hospital spokesman.

And in papers sent to Harvard University for a seminar and to the House Committee on Government Reform, which held hearings on steroids in baseball two weeks ago, Pellman identified himself as an associate clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

But he is an assistant clinical professor, a lower-ranking and honorary position that is held by thousands of doctors. Pellman does not teach at Albert Einstein, and his associate status is pending.

The Times reviewed Pellman's credentials after his nationally televised appearance before the House committee on March 17. He was added to the hearing at the request of Major League Baseball and staunchly defended baseball's steroids policies.

When informed of the errors in Pellman's biography, Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, the ranking minority member on the House committee, told the Times in a statement: "This new information raises further questions about [Pellman's] credibility and the credibility of baseball's steroid policy."

Robert D. Manfred Jr., baseball's executive vice president, said the errors were insignificant. He said it was unfair to criticize Pellman for the false listing of an M.D. from SUNY in the shortened version of his bio from the Jets.

"I don't see why it should impact his credibility, I really don't, Manfred said.