Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Respondent after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substance Probenecid.
After the notification a provisional suspension was ordered. Respondent filed a statement in his defence and was heard for the Tribunal.
Respondent admitted the anti-doping violation but gave evidence it occurred inadvertently as a result of medical treatment. He developed a serious arm infection and attended a 24 hour accident and emergency clinic. A doctor at the clinic diagnosed him as having cellulitis requiring immediate treatment. The doctor prescribed and administered Probenecid as part of the treatment. The doctor gave evidence there was a serious medical emergency, with potentially life threatening consequences if untreated, and Probenecid was seen as an essential treatment option.
Respondent gave evidence that he advised the treating doctor, and subsequent medical personnel he saw on return visits for further treatment with Probenecid, that he had been selected for the Paralympic Games, was subject to drug testing and could not take anything that was a prohibited substance. However, Respondent and the doctors did not realise that Probenecid was prohibited in sport. A therapeutic use exemption (TUE) could have been applied for to allow Respondent to take the Probenecid but in the situation that developed this was overlooked.
The Tribunal is satisfied that Respondent was prescribed Probenecid for a clear therapeutic reason and that performance enhancement or masking was not in issue in any way. The breach in this case arose out of a critical medical emergency where insufficient attention was given to Respondent being subject to the Drug Free regime. The case is about inadvertence and oversight by a very sick man. The Tribunal is satisfied that in these circumstances issuing a reprimand (and no suspension) sufficiently reflected the actual culpability in the breach.
