SEATTLE -- A former doctor for the University of Washington football team was suspended from practicing medicine Friday after admitting he improperly prescribed thousands of doses of prescription drugs for a handful of people and handed the pills out in small white envelopes.

In a sworn statement given to the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission, Dr. William Scheyer admitted prescribing thousands of doses of narcotic painkillers, sedatives and tranquilizers for a Huskies softball player, a former Washington athletic trainer and a U.S. Olympic softball team trainer.

Scheyer's "total failure to follow the laws and regulations controlling the prescribing and dispensing of medications created an unreasonable risk that patients or the public would be harmed," Assistant Attorney General Kim O'Neal wrote in a motion to the commission that Scheyer's license be suspended.

The commission ordered Scheyer to stop practicing as a physician and writing medical prescriptions, pending an administrative hearing.

Scheyer also admitted acquiring steroids for himself, both by an illegal self-prescription and by prescribing them in the softball player's name, but said the performance-enhancing substances weren't given to athletes.

Washington officials called a news conference Friday at which UW athletic director Barbara Hedges emphasized there was no evidence of prescription drug abuse or steroid use by student athletes.

"For several weeks, we have been reviewing this matter and will continue to do so," Hedges said. "We have fully cooperated with the investigators through this entire process."

It's been a turbulent year for Hedges, who fired former football coach Rick Neuheisel over his role in a gambling scandal and saw the men's basketball program placed on NCAA probation for illegal recruiting practices.

In this instance, however, school officials insisted the softball player was a victim. Scheyer is accused of writing 126 prescriptions in her name, though the player was aware of only a few.

"We talked to that student, and that student denied receiving more than a few tablets that were written in that student's name," said Don Williams, executive director of the state Board of Pharmacy.

State health officials said pharmacist Edward Matsuwaka also was implicated for improperly providing drugs to Scheyer. Neither responded Friday to Associated Press calls for comment. They have 20 days to respond to the commission's allegations.

No criminal charges have been filed against Scheyer or Matsuwaka.

State health officials said 219 prescriptions were written for a former Washington athletic trainer who left the job 18 months ago.

"We have no evidence to suggest that the trainer provided inappropriate drugs to student athletes," Hedges said, adding that the school is conducting its own investigation to determine if there's a wider problem.

The medical commission's statement of charges said Scheyer admitted packaging "various amounts of these drugs in small, white envelope packets marked only with brief handwritten directions for use" and then either supplying various team trainers with a supply of these packets, or personally giving packets to various athletes.

Dr. John O'Kane, head team physician at Washington, said distributing medication in such a manner would violate the athletic department's protocol. He said athletes use an on-campus pharmacy for prescriptions.

The problem for investigators and Washington athletic administrators is determining exactly what happened to thousands of prescription pills. State officials said Scheyer didn't keep good records.

"It's really difficult to determine who got them and in what quantity," Williams said.

A trainer for USA Softball was named in 16 prescriptions. Health officials said the prescriptions were written between January 1999 and May 2003. None of the recipients was identified.

Brian McCall, spokesman for the U.S. softball federation, wasn't aware of the allegations against Scheyer, nor did he know of the doctor having connections to USA Softball.

McCall said no U.S. softball player has ever had a positive drug test.

Hedges said no Washington athlete has ever had a positive drug result. She said NCAA officials test Washington football and track athletes twice a year, and athletes who qualify for NCAA championships are subject to random tests.

Scheyer was described as an ardent supporter of Washington athletics. He was relegated to being a consulting physician for the softball team after a 1998 decision to use the university's medical school for team doctors.