Sports Medicine: Just the Facts

CHAPTER 24 • DRUG TESTING 139

INSTITUTIONAL DRUG TESTING

• Extreme care must be taken to protect the rights of the
  athlete.


• Goals of testing, education program, punishment,
  selection process, procedures for testing, notification,
  confidentiality, appropriate follow-up, and legal issues
  must be carefully thought out and put into writing.


• Multiple individuals may be involved in creating such
  a policy including, but not limited to, administrators,
  legal counsel, medical advisors, psychologists, and
  representatives of the athletes.


• Selection of athletes for testing may not be arbitrary.
  •After notification, the athlete must present to a testing
  center within a set amount of time.
  •Testing may be performed at an on-campus center or a
  designated industrial clinic for drug testing. If sent to an
  outside facility, the school or organization must assure
  that proper conduct and procedures are followed.
  •Testing procedures should be similar to that discussed
  above under the end of season testing.


• Lists of substances that are not allowed must be pub-
  lished and the athletes educated regarding the sub-
  stances, health risks, treatment options, and sanctions
  for positive tests.

TESTINGTECHNIQUES

• Initial screening may be done by the relatively lower
  cost thin-layer chromatography or Radioimmunassay
  (RIA) methods.


• Confirmation and definitive testing should be per-
  formed by gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy.

LEGALISSUES

• Expect legal challenges to testing procedures and
  especially to positive tests.


• Athletes should be afforded due process of law.


• One should consider outlining rights of appeal.

PUBLICRELATIONS

• Privacy of the athlete must be maintained.


• The public and press often feel they have a “right-to-
  know” about the dealings of their teams, schools, and
  athletes.


• The loss of an athlete from a team for disciplinary
  reasons is often assumed to be for positive drug
  tests.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bowers LD: Athletic drug testing. Clin Sports Med 17(2):

299–319, April 1998.

Greydanus DE, Patel DR: Sports doping in the adolescent athlete

the hope, hype, and hyperbole. Pediatr Clin North Am

49(4):829–855, Aug 2002.

Knopp WD, Wang TW, Bach BR: Ergogenic drugs in sports. Clin

Sports Med16(3):375–393, July 1997.

MacAuley D: Drugs in sport. BMJ 313(7051):211–215, Jul 27,

1996.

National Collegiate Athletics Administration: Drug testing

program, http://www1.ncaa.org/membership/ed_outreach/

health-safety/drug_testing/index.html

United States Anti-doping Agency (USADA): http://www.usantidoping.

org World Anti-doping Agency (WADA): http://www.wada-ama.org