Treating the Elite Athlete: Anti-Doping Information for the Health Professional / by Shikha Tandon, Larry D. Bowers & Matthew N. Fedoruk
In: Missouri Medicine, March/April 2015 no. 2(112): p. 43-49

Physicians and health professionals are a vital component in preserving the integrity of competition and the core principles of true sport. When treating an athlete, health professionals need to be cognizant of the anti-doping rules of the relevant sport organization. This review aims to provide an overview of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List, Therapeutic Use Exemptions, roles and responsibilities of the health professional, as well as provide resources that will guide their work with athletes. Physicians and health professionals that are treating athletes have an important role within the sporting community. Knowledge and understanding ensures that medical treatment provided to the athlete is in compliance with the anti-doping rules. Prior to prescribing any medication to the athlete, it is important to verify the prohibited
status, in sport, of the medication. Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) procedures must be followed if the prohibited substance or method is medically necessary for the athlete. To enable a thorough evaluation of the TUE by the TUEC, it is important that the medical information provided by the health professional is detailed and accurate. The WADA Code states that those persons that are involved in doping of athletes, or covering up doping, should be subject to sanctions which are more severe than those given to athletes that test positive
in a drug test. USADA has developed an online educational tutorial to provide health professionals with information on anti-doping specific rules and resources.

Doping in sport is nothing new, but it has grown, expanded geographically and become more visible in recent years. It is a true scourge for many competitive sports and jeopardizes the health of millions of young athletes throughout the world.
Since the 1960's, the Council of Europe has realized the extent of this problem and decided to fight it. The Anti-Doping Convention, opened for signature on 16 November 1989 in Strasbourg and entering into force on 1 March 1990, demonstrates this commitment. It expresses the Contracting Parties’ political will to fight against doping in sport in an active and coordinated manner.
The main objective of the Convention is to promote the harmonization, at national and international levels, of the measures to be taken against doping.
The Convention does not claim to create a uniform model of anti-doping, but sets a certain number of common standards and regulations requiring that the Parties adopt legislative, financial, technical, educational and other measures. Its spirit derives from the political desire to help safeguard the ethics of sport and to preserve the integrity of clean sport.
By joining the principles and objectives of the Convention, the contracting Parties undertake, in their respective constitutional provisions, to set up a national anti-doping policy to:
– create a national coordinating body;
– reduce the trafficking of doping substances and the use of banned doping agents;
– reinforce doping controls and improve detection techniques;
– support education and information programs;
– guarantee the efficiency of sanctions taken against offenders;
– collaborate with national and international sports organisations;
– and use accredited anti-doping laboratories.
A monitoring system was created under the Convention and the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention set up under Article 10 of the Convention is the body responsible for monitoring the application of the Convention. Parties to the Convention are under the obligation to provide the Council of Europe with information on legislative and other measures taken for the purpose of complying with the terms of the Convention, in accordance with Article 9. In order to facilitate this process, a questionnaire was prepared, requesting national reports from the Parties on the implementation of the Convention.
This report, reflecting the data of Netherlands for the year 2009, has been compiled for the purpose of monitoring of the convention by its Committee and is published for transparency. Comments may be sent to the secretariat of the Council of Europe, Sport department (sport@coe.int).
All reproduction of this report, of a part of this report or of its data, has to be allowed by written authorization of the Council of Europe.

Finnish Anti-Doping Agency annual report 2014 / FINADA

CONTENTS
Introduction 2
Administration 4
Board 4
Supervisory board 5
Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee 5
Quality management 5
Office 5
Doping control and testing 6
Doping testing 6
Therapeutic use exemptions 7
Results management 7
Parties that commissioned training and education 8
Target groups for training and education 8
Anti-Doping education 8
Communication 9
The clean win programme 9
International activities 10
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 10
Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (INADO) 10
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) 11
Council of Europe (COE) 11
The European Union 11
International Anti-Doping Arrangement (IADA) 11
Nordic Cooperation 11
Research 12
Athlete Survey 12
Development projects 13
Recreational athletes' Anti-Doping programme 13
Finances 14
Important events during and after the financial year 14
Appendices 1
FINADA bodies and staff 15
Board 2014–2015 15
Supervisory board 2013–2014 15
Therapeutic Use Exception Committee 16
Ad hoc working group responsible for planning the criteria and the evaluation system of sport federations' Anti-Doping programmes 16
Office 16
Appendix 2
Doping test statistics 2014 17
Appendix 3
Education events in 2014 18
Appendix 4
FINADA information stands at sporting events in 2014 21
Appendix 5
FINADA'S international representation in 2014 22
Appendix 6
Summary of research by united MEDIX Laboratories LTD. 23

Report to the commissioner of baseball of an independent investigation into the illegal use of steroids and other performance enhancing substances by players in major league baseball / George J. Mitchell. - Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, 2007

The Report, informally known as the "Mitchell Report," is the result of former Democratic United States Senator from Maine George J. Mitchell's 21-month investigation into the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) in Major League Baseball (MLB). The 409-page report, released on December 13, 2007, covers the history of the use of illegal performance-enhancing substances by players and the effectiveness of the MLB Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The report also advances certain recommendations regarding the handling of past illegal drug use and future prevention practices. In addition, the report names 89 MLB players who are alleged to have used steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.

The report describes motivations for its preparation, including health effects of steroids, legal issues, fair play, and reports that baseball players acted as role models for child athletes. For example, after news coverage in August 1998 that Mark McGwire had used the then-legal androstenedione, a steroid precursor, sales of the supplement increased over 1000%, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that 8% of male high school senior athletes had used androstenedione in 2001.

Mitchell reported that during the random testing in 2003, 5 to 7 percent of players tested positive for steroid use. Players on the forty-man roster of major league teams were exempt from testing until 2004. One player is quoted: "Forty-man [roster] guys already have all of the [major league] club advantages, and then they could use steroids . . . it was not a level playing field."

According to the report, after mandatory random testing began in 2004, HGH became the substance of choice among players, as it was not then detectable in tests. Also, it was noted that at least one player from each of the thirty Major League Baseball teams was involved in the alleged violations

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency 2014 Annual Report / United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). - Colorado Springs : USADA, 2015

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency 2013 Annual Report / United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). - Colorado Springs : USADA, 2014

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency 2012 Annual Report / United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). - Colorado Springs : USADA, 2013

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency 2011 Annual Report / United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). - Colorado Springs : USADA, 2012