August 11, 2008 at 8:06 am | 2008 Beijing Olympics, Steroids in Sports
- Posted by Millard Baker |
The China Anti-Doping Agency (CADA) spent approximately $10 million dollars and six years to create a new state of the art laboratory specifically for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Roughly one quarter of that budget ($2.7 million) was used to purchase 60-80 various laboratory testing instruments. The primary beneficiaries of these purchases were the analytical laboratory equipment manufacturers Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agilent Technologies and Phenomenex (“Drugs at the Starting Line: The Olympics begin with new antidoping lab and measures to keep athletes honest,” August 11).
Stuart P. Cram, strategic marketing vice president at Thermo Fisher, reports that their company has numerous service engineers available 24 hours a day during the Beijing Olympics to maintain uninterrupted and efficient operation of the Thermo Fisher testing equipment. Chinese Anti-Doping Agency purchased several products from their company including:
- (2) Thermo Fisher DFS Sector Field gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) systems;
- (1) Thermo Fisher Delta V isotope ratio mass spectrometer – used to distinguish between “natural and synthetic steroids”;
- (4) Thermo Fisher triple-quadrupole TSQ Quantum Access liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) systems
Agilent Technologies supplies the China Anti-Doping Agency with the majority of their steroid testing and drug detection equipment. Stephen B. Crisp, international business development manager at Agilent, states that Agilent also has technicians available 24/7 to maintain the operational status of Agilent equipment that includes 18 liquid/mass stations and 19 gas/mass stations.
- Agilent 1200 Series LC/MS units
- Agilent 6400 Series triple-quadrupole LC/MS units
- Agilent 6100 Series single-quadrupole LC/MS units
- Agilent 6300 Series ion trap LC/MS
- Agilent 7890A GC/MS units
- (8) unspecified laboratory instrumentation
Read the rest of this entry »
August 6, 2008 at 11:56 am | 2008 Beijing Olympics, Steroids and Swimming, Steroids in Sports
- Posted by Millard Baker |
Swimmer Dara Torres is an extraordinary athlete. The possibility that a 41-year old mother can compete alongside the best elite swimmers in the world with a legitimate chance at winning a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics is nothing short of phenomenal. There is nothing – no news or revelation – that could diminish her achievements in my eyes.
Having said that, I am disappointed to see Dara Torres publicly assert her moral superiority over other athletes who use performance enhancing drugs. Torres comes across as disingenous if not hypocritical when she decries the lack of a conscience in other competitors who use performance enhancing drugs.
Read the rest of this entry »
August 5, 2008 at 1:34 pm | 2008 Beijing Olympics, Steroids and Cycling, Steroids in Sports
- Posted by Millard Baker |
Italian cyclist Marta Bastianelli tested positive for a banned stimulant. She tested positive for the diet drug fenfluramine in a doping control conducted by the International Cycling Union (UCI) at the “Under-23 World Championships” in Verbania, Italy on July 5, 2008.
Bastianelli claims she never knowingly ingested a banned substance. She admitted to her obsession with weight control stating “I wanted to lose weight, like any girl.” She consulted with her doctor to find weight loss products that were not on the WADA banned substance list. Her doctor prescribed the drug Benfluorex. Benfluorex is an anti-diabetic drug that improves insulin sensitivity and glycemic control; as such it is often prescribed for weight loss. Benfluorex is not on the WADA banned substance list but it is structurally similar to Fenfluramine (which is listed) Read the rest of this entry »
July 25, 2008 at 2:03 am | 2008 Beijing Olympics, Steroids and Swimming, Steroids in Sports
- Posted by Millard Baker |
I am disappointed by the mainstream media coverage of Olympic swimmer Jessica Hardy’s failed drug test for clenbuterol (an asthma medication).
NBC was apparently the first news organization to identify the banned substance as clenbuterol. They did not elaborate on the drug other than to identify it as a “stimulant” which was of course very misleading.
Clenbuterol was not identified as an asthma medication. It was not revealed that numerous other Olympic swimmers are permitted to use similar asthma drugs as long as they have a therapeutic use exemption (TUE). In all fairness to Jessica Hardy, this information should be provided at the outset to provide the appropriate context for any story about her positive test.
Washington Post Staff Writer Amy Shipley regularly writes about doping in sports, so I was very disappointed that Shipley failed to specifically identify clenbuterol as an asthma medication. She did not mention that other Olympic swimmers are allowed to use similar asthma drugs. In fact, there was not a single instance of the word ‘asthma’ in her 600+ word article. Read the rest of this entry »
July 24, 2008 at 10:57 pm | 2008 Beijing Olympics, Steroids and Swimming, Steroids in Sports
- Posted by Millard Baker |
U.S. Olympic swimmer Jessica Hardy tested positive for the asthma medication Clenbuterol in both A and B samples at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska on July 1st and July 4, 2008. Clenbuterol is a bronchodilator belonging to a class of drugs known as beta-2 adrenergic agonists or long-acting beta-2 adrenergic agonist (LABA) . Clenbuterol is similar to Albuterol and Salmeterol which are also LABAs.
It is well-known that a high percentage of elite swimmers have exercise-induced asthma. It is also known that most asthmatic swimmers competing in the Olympics have therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) to use beta-2 agonists like albuterol, formoterol, salbutamol, salmeterol and terbutaline for therapeutic purposes.
The amazing swimmer Dara Torres makes no secret of her use of albuterol and formoterol; these are two different beta-2 agonists (LABAs). She probably tests positive for these substances on a regular basis too since United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) tests her frequently due to her participation in Project Believe. Read the rest of this entry »
July 23, 2008 at 1:03 pm | Steroids and Cycling, Steroids in Sports, Tour de France
- Posted by Millard Baker |
John Fahey, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has revealed they are cooperating with Roche Pharmaceuticals to secretly add a “traceable molecule” to drugs likely to have performance enhancing effects in athletes. This was how AFLD was able to detect the previously-undetectable Mircera (CERA) in Riccardo Ricco’s sample at the 2008 Tour de France. Roche manufacures at least two PEDs used by cyclists – Mircera and NeoRecormon. Drug-tested athletes have been given notice to avoid using products manufactured by Roche Pharmaceuticals.
It seems that WADA is no longer interested in developing anti-doping tests that actually detect performance enhancing drugs (PEDs); this is understandable since serious flaws in their anti-doping tests are revealed again and again. Instead, WADA apparently believes the future of anti-doping efforts lies in anti-doping agencies cooperation with pharmaceutical companies to secretly add “traceable molecules” and “trojan molecules” (“Ricco caught by secret doping molecule: WADA chief,” July 23).
In the development of that particular substance, close cooperation occurred between WADA and the pharmaceutical company Roche Pharmaceuticals so that there was a molecule placed in the substance well in advance that was always going to be able to be detected once a test was taken,” Mr Fahey said.
Wow. I wonder what is more deplorable – athletes using performance enhancing drugs OR multi-national pharmaceutical companies secretly adding traceable molecules to consumer products and intentionally hiding this ingredient by failing to disclose it on the label? Read the rest of this entry »
July 23, 2008 at 3:00 am | Steroids and Cycling, Steroids in Sports, Tour de France
- Posted by Millard Baker |
Widespread doping continues in cycling despite recent proclamations by Olivier Rabin, the science director for World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and Pierre Bordry, the head of the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), that they are practically on the verge of eliminating doping from cycling.
The testosterone doping test is flawed. The EPO test is flawed in more ways than one. Peptide hormones such as human growth hormone (HGH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) are currently undetectable. And this does not begin to address other current and emerging synthetic blood boosting techniques being used by cyclists.
It seems that anti-doping agencies are happy to assert that they are winning the war on doping while neglecting issues such as biogeneric/biosimilar erythropoietin (EPO)Â stimulating proteins (ESPs); blood oxygen carriers: perfluorocarbon emulsions (PFCEs) and hemoglobin based oxygen carriers (HBOCs); hydroxyethylstarch (HES/HAES); and before long, if not already, EPO-mimetic peptide (EMPs). Read the rest of this entry »
July 21, 2008 at 1:30 pm | Steroids and Cycling, Steroids in Sports, Tour de France
- Posted by Millard Baker |
A BBC investigation suggests that most athletes who use recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) continue to get away with it. The investigative article reveals several reasons why the EPO test is failing. But the BBC revealed that the biggest problem is not the ineffectiveness of the existing EPO tests used by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). It is a lack of testing for variants of EPO.
Athletes are using various “biosimilar” EPO agents for which WADA has not yet developed a detection method. WADA’s ballyhooed test for the previously undetectable Mircera (pegylated EPO) was an admission that the already flawed existing EPO test was unable to detect variants of EPO; the announcement of the new CERA (Mircera) test at the 2008 Tour de France was considered a major victory.
There are also dozens of “copycat” or “biosimilar” versions of EPO. These are variants of EPO that are produced by different methods or exist as slightly different biological forms of EPO e.g. darbepoetin alfa, epoetin alfa, epoetin beta, epoetin gamma, epoetin delta, epoetin epsilon, epoetin zeta, epoetin theta, epoetin kappa, epoetin omega. The existence of biosimilar versions of EPO is a major problem for drug testers Read the rest of this entry »
