in the mitchell report, piatt admitted to having used steroids. piatt said that former a's teammate f. p. santangelo had told him about a man who could give piatt human growth hormone (hgh). piatt (who was trying to come back from viral meningitis) received hgh and testosterone from kirk radomski and used them in the 2002–2003 off-season. after using them, he said he "did not love the game when he used them" and that he had learned a life lesson. piatt told all of this to mitchell during their meeting. former senator george mitchell commended piatt for his honesty, and for being one of the few players to come forward to discuss the league's performance-enhancing drug use.