Clemens 'Swears' He's Never Used Banned Substances

Jan. 4, 2008— -- Roger Clemens says he was injected with "lidocaine and B-12" and not steroids or human growth hormone by former trainer Brian McNamee, according to a portion of an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" released Thursday.

"Lidocaine and [vitamin] B-12. It's for my joints, and B-12 I still take today," Clemens told Mike Wallace in the interview, which is scheduled to be shown Sunday night. It is Clemens' first interview since the release of the Mitchell report in December.

In the Mitchell report, McNamee claims to have injected Clemens with steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001. He said he injected the seven-time Cy Young Award winner with HGH in 2000, according to the report.

According to CBS, Clemens calls the accusation that he used steroids and HGH "ridiculous" and says he "never" used any banned substances. The interview was conducted last Friday at Clemens' home in Katy, Texas, a suburb west of Houston.

Wallace asked Clemens if he swears he didn't use banned substances. "Swear," Clemens responds.

The common use of lidocaine is as a local anesthetic used by dentists and in minor surgery. It also is available as part of ointments used to treat skin inflammation. It can also be given intravenously to stop heart arrhythmias in some cases.

Clemens is scheduled to hold a news conference on Monday, the day after the interview is broadcast.

Earl Ward, an attorney for McNamee, said his client stands by "everything he said to Senator Mitchell and federal investigators."

"Brian has a master's degree in sports medicine," Ward told ESPN The Magazine's Shaun Assael. "He knows the difference between lidocaine, B-12 and testosterone. What he injected into Roger Clemens wasn't lidocaine or B-12. It was testosterone."

Another lawyer for McNamee, Richard Emery, has threatened to sue Clemens for defamation.

"I think that this is a lawyers' game, which allows him to try and attempt to say that McNamee didn't know what he was injecting or that at least Clemens didn't know what he was injecting,'' Emery said.