In professional sports are there any banned substances that are allowed for therapeutic purposes under a doctors care? If so can it be for short term problems or just long term injuries such as with Peyton Manning last year? I am totally ignorant so enlighten me. I understand each sport will have different rules.
Let me start off by saying that this’ll probably be a totally useless post, as I don’t know whether anything I have to say will apply to professional sports.
Steroids are powerful anti-inflammatories - my father is a GP, and (sparingly) prescribes steroids for my mom’s arthritis, particularly before a vacation where they’re planning on doing a lot of walking. Presumably, a doctor might prescribe someone like Manning a steroid for use after his surgery to help with inflammation and promote healing. However, any team doctor is probably going to be very leery of prescribing any banned substances to such a franchise player, even if said substance is being used medically and will most likely exit the player’s body far far before any drug testing of said player. My guess is that a team doctor would probably use something else instead to avoid any hints of impropriety. But I could be wrong on that - it’s entirely possible that steroids were used on Manning or Peterson during their recoveries while on the DL.
It’s also my understanding that EPO helps recovery largely by stimulating red blood cell production. Indeed, it’s largely because of his cancer treatment that Lance Armstrong discovered how quickly EPO helped him recover from more mundane (in comparison to chemo, that is) training runs. Presumably, a doctor might prescribe EPO to a player suffering from cancer or kidney diseases, but with the same caveats as above. And I’m not certain how likely it is that a player with those conditions would be able to compete on such an elite field to be subject to either a) testing or b) exemptions. But it’s possible - Lance Armstrong proves as much.
My gut feeling is that if any banned substances are used medically to promote healing in professional sports, it’s most likely for long-term recoveries, such as AP’s, Manning’s, or RGIII’s. I don’t think they’d clear fast enough from the body to be a wise choice for shorter-term injuries, especially for franchise players.
I’m specifically asking if some or any of the sports governing bodies allow such drugs under specific conditions and what those conditions might be. Its just a question that popped into my head because of the latest baseball controversy.
I can’t speak to all the sports, but for the NFL, it depends on the item prescribed. Anabolic steroids and other PED’s are generally completely banned, even with a doctor’s prescription, but other drugs, Adderal (which is a problem) and Pseudo ephedrine, can be used if prescribed. I don’t think they allow HGH or blood doping to help in healing.
It looks like the NFL has appointed an Independant Administrator for the policy. That adminstrator can grant “therapeutic use exemptions.” But I don’t see what those might be.
Yes but these are cortico-steroids, not anabolic steroids. The former are allowable under a doctor’s car (as far as I’m aware), while the latter are not.
So, I’m mostly ignorant of this too, but I started poking around because I am bored. Apparently various authorities like MLB and the US Anti-Doping Agency have processes for “Therapeutic Use Exemptions”. More info on the MLB version is here (PDF) and the USADA version is here.
I recall a couple of baseball players having been thought to have abused the fertility drug Clomid. This site mentions Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and Bobby Estalella. Clomid is now banned by MLB. As I understand it, Clomid is not so much a performance enhancer by itself, but it can mask other PEDs (although I could be completely wrong about that). Anyway, although Clomid is usually given to women it is sometimes used to treat infertility in men (e.g., this fertility practice in TX).
So, I could imagine a scenario where an athlete who is genuinely receiving Clomid for male-factor infertility is able to get a Therapeutic Use Exemption while under the care of the fertility specialist. But, again, I have no personal expertise in this area.
Clomid is not used to “mask” steroid use but as a “kick starter” for a man’s natural testosterone production; which has been shut down due to exogenous steroid use. If an athlete tests positive for Clomid, it’s a sure sign they’re doping. Clomid is traditionally used as part of a steroid “cycle” when the steroids are stopped and the body needs to recover natural function.
As far as I know, the therapeutic use exemption (TUE) is dependent on the sport. There was a story from 1988 where it was mentioned that a Belgian Olympic judo competitor had a TUE for an anabolic steroid to treat a testicular injury.
The story involved Ria van Landeghem, a Belgian marathon runner. The entire Belgian team was tested prior to the games, and she tested positive for an anabolic steroid. She vehemently denied taking any performance enhancing drugs. Meanwhile the judo competitor with the anabolic steroid TUE tested negative. Ria’s B sample was tested, and it also tested positive for anabolic steroids, so she was removed from the Olympic team. Curiously, the A sample was + for an oil soluble steroid, while the B sample was + for a water soluble steroid. It was pretty obvious that the Belgian testing was a total clusterfuck, but the officials dutifully stood behind the results.
Ria would run the Twin Cities marathon a week after the Olympic marathon was run, and she won quite handily. Her interviews clearly showed her anger and bitterness at getting screwed out of the Olympics. I also ran Twin Cities that year, so I remember the coverage pretty well. Probably still have the newspaper coverage of it somewhere.