Keeping competitive athletes free of banned substances: Robert Nickell's Torrance company specializes in sports.

DEPOSED Tour de France champion Floyd Landis and Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones are the latest athletes to make headlines and lose awards because of doping scandals. And there are more to come with former Sen. George Mitchell preparing to name names when he issues his report on steroids and Major league Baseball next month.

With the growing scrutiny, many pro sports teams are looking for ways to prevent athletes from ingesting banned substances, and many of them have turned to Robert Nickell, chief executive and owner of Torrance-based HNP Pharmaceuticals. Many common over-the-counter drugs are deemed "performance enhancing" by various sports' governing bodies and athletes can unknowingly run afoul of the rules. Nickell ensures that athletes only receive medications and vitamins that meet the requirements.

Nickell, a licensed pharmacist, counts pro football, baseball, basketball and hockey teams among his clients. He tracks prescription drugs and dispenses medications for everything from coughs and colds to pain management and physical therapy rehabilitation medications.

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"I focus on the management of prescription drugs and how to meet regulatory requirements," said Nickell. "Each year, drug policies in major sports get more stringent."

Nickell became involved with pro sports more than a decade ago, when the NFL's Raiders played in Los Angeles. He was introduced to the team trainer and they hit it off. Nickell told him of a software program he'd been working with that tracked medications and produced reports showing what athletes are taking.

"The Raiders needed some assistance tracking medications," said Nickell. "We cleaned up the whole operation."

Soon after, other local teams including the Angels and Dodgers called and business grew steadily. Sports clients currently account for about one-third of HNP Pharmaceuticals' $6.2 million in 2006 revenues. The company employs 85 people.

In 2004, Nickell became the first pharmacist to join the U.S. Olympic medical staff. He accompanied the U.S. team to the Athens Olympics and will join the team in Beijing next year.

"Athletes rely on the medical staff to make sure that they only get U.S. and FDA approved drugs. We are the team pharmacy to all three Olympic training centers," said Nickell.

Nickell will ship all medications for U.S. athletes to China in preparation for the Games, so that all the medications taken by U.S. athletes during the Games will come from the U.S. rather than Chinese pharmacies.

Staff reporter David Nusbaum can be reached at [phone], ext. 236, or at [e-mail].