LRC Exclusive: The latest on USADA's investigation into Alberto Salazar's Nike Oregon Project

Pick your doctor wrote:

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Yeah, I don't know what the answer is. Can't see a good procedural way to give USADA some sort of authority over medical doctors without running into all sorts of problems and unintended consequences.

The answer is to ban Dr Brown as a doctor athletes can use. Dr Brown isn't prevented from practicing, just from prescribing for athletes who choose to compete under WADA's charter. Any athlete found using Dr Brown and hiding it would receive a lifetime ban. Dr Brown is not prevented from practicing which is the right answer.

How do you ban an athlete from using a doc? Under what rule does this follow? NGBs can ban a doc from receiving funding or being part of its "team", but I know of no rule that covers what you suggest.

Also, I do not think that USADA stripped Lance of his Tour de France titles as it has no jurisdiction over that. ASO (the body that organizes and owns Le Tour) took that step.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

So, just to press this a little further...

There presumably would have to be actual evidence that the doctor is doing something against the rules.

What do we know Dr. Brown has done?

A requirement to presume would not be required. What would be required for all cases is a second independent medical confirmation for any special drug/TUE the primary doctor wants to prescribe. A cross-check prior to approval by WADA. The only thing missing from the WADA code, is a required second confirmation.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

I think, without looking it up, that he prescribed androgel to Alberto. Surely that is not against the rules, as he is not an active athlete.

Just to clarify, 2.6 of the WADA code says a coach or other support personnel can only have dope if he has "an acceptable justification." AlSal having an Androgel prescription for his own, medically recognized use, is an "acceptable justification." AlSal having an Androgel prescription so he could test it on his kids, is probably not an "acceptable justification."

PS Keep up the good work. I'm enjoying your posts, and your patience.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

So, I can see possible grounds for not allowing athletes to use him, but I am not sure it is a slam dunk.

To follow on your excellent post, the last doping violation listed in Section 2 of the WACA Code, covers "Prohibited Association." This rule makes it a violation of the anti-doping rules for anyone under the the USADA's jurisdiction to associate with people who have been either:

2.10.1 declared "ineligible" by some athletic organization; or,

2.10.2 "convicted or found in a criminal, disciplinary or professional proceeding to have engaged in conduct which would have constituted a violation of anti-doping rules if Code-compliant rules had been applicable to such Person."

Since Dr. Brown has not been convicted or found etc so far, 2.10 cannot apply to him. Moreover, WADA or the USADA would have to notify athletes or others in writing that they can't deal with Dr. Brown, so this can only apply to future dealings.

To make it worse, there are only two rules that could possibly apply to Dr. Brown. 2.8 prohibits giving dope to athletes, and 2.9 prohibits "Complicity," which includes:

"Assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, conspiring, covering up or any other type of intentional complicity involving an anti-doping rule violation, Attempted anti-doping rule violation or violation of Article 10.12.1 by

another Person."

I could see this section applying to AlSal's testosterone experiments, since those experiments aid AlSal's attempts to evade the anti-doping rules.

I hate to be boring, but.... wrote:

Moreover, WADA or the USADA would have to notify athletes or others in writing that they can't deal with Dr. Brown, so this can only apply to future dealings.

There nothing in the code that allows grandfathered use of something that becomes prohibited. Therefore, any athlete that continues to use Dr Brown would receive a ban. No positive test is required.

Future Dealings wrote:

There nothing in the code that allows grandfathered use of something that becomes prohibited. Therefore, any athlete that continues to use Dr Brown would receive a ban. No positive test is required.

I'm sorry but I must have missed something. Who said anything about the grandfathered use of prohibited substances?

I'm also not clear what this has to do with Dr. Brown. What substances do you mean?

luv2run wrote:

How do you ban an athlete from using a doc? Under what rule does this follow?

How do you ban an athlete from using a banned drug or coach? It still happens. The athlete gets caught, then the athlete gets banned.

The athlete is banned if they use a disallowed doctor. A requirement for an independent second opinion is added to the code. The rules need to revised to create these new restrictions.

Not fair and a misrepresentation to call this doctor "nop's" doctor when many other runners, some who have cast stones at nop, have visited the same doctor.

Gwalkerruns wrote:

Not fair and a misrepresentation to call this doctor "nop's" doctor when many other runners, some who have cast stones at nop, have visited the same doctor.

A lot of NOP athletes use the Dr. Brown, who are told to use him Salazar. Do you know of any other coach who steers several of their athletes to the same Dr. Brown?

I want to see doping criminalized and attacked from financial standpoint not from a drug standpoint. At races in your contract there are terms about racing free of banned substances. Breaching those terms should be treated the same way corporate fraud or embezzelment would be.

I just wish that they would ban all the NOPers permanantly.

Good discussion, spurred by solid reporting and clear writing by Mr. Horn. LetsRun can provide a real service to the sport, and all of us who love it, by continuing to support professional journalism like this.

Best post of the day and yet no one had responded to it. No, never mind the facts, you see, because I just hate AlSal/NOP so they must have doped (but only them and no others). And of course, no one lies but AlSal and NOP, duh!

Brought to you by the Truthers for Track Society (TITs, aka Losers Rant.com)

I know. The reporting is nice. It is good to get a description of what is going on. Sometimes the overall context is lacking and its helpful to take a step back and look at the whole picture.

Because it is troll bait. You took the only bite.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Ryan's Interns wrote:

How about hauling all the NOPers into a congressional committee and getting their testimony on record? Then lock 'em up when they perjure themselves. Didn't this work for Marion?

No. She was caught up in a check-kiting scheme and forced to plead.

I honestly don't want congress messing w/ this. Again, the cure is worse than the disease.

Really? One little congressional hearing is worse than the possibility that the most accomplished distance running stable in recent American history is a farce built on doping, lies, and misdirection?

Roelants wrote:

At this point the Aden story looks like it has a lot

more evidence. I look forward to LRC reporting on that if you can get some insights.

Uhh no sh*t sherlock, given that the police found vials full of EPO in his freaking hotel room.

The knower of true things wrote:

Exactly. The seven that released their records reported to not doping. In fact, not one single athlete, including Kara Goucher, have admitted, reported, or been found to have doped. This seems to be lost on everyone.

Kara admitted she was given prescription medication that was not for her. The "mystery athlete" (we all know who it is...) admitted to manipulating a medical test to get a prescription he did not need. Salazar admitted to experimenting with androgel on his son. Smoke, fire.

Roelants wrote:

I know. The reporting is nice. It is good to get a description of what is going on. Sometimes the overall context is lacking and its helpful to take a step back and look at the whole picture.

but I hate 'em, it must be so wrote:

Best post of the day and yet no one had responded to it. No, never mind the facts, you see, because I just hate AlSal/NOP so they must have doped (but only them and no others). And of course, no one lies but AlSal and NOP, duh!

Brought to you by the Truthers for Track Society (TITs, aka Losers Rant.com)

Right. Everything said so far is true. There is nothing concrete. No evidence of anything illegal, no sign of a coming sanction or ban.

But the big picture is still cloudy. Because that big picture is not that of a training camp with one odd blemish. The incidents have been explained away individually, with apparent validity, but the totality of those incidents has not.

Because it's not "just" a training group whose coach mis-labelled testosterone-boosting supplaments as testosterone medication on a medical document. And it's not a group that "just" sent medication in a hollow book to avoid customs. Farah's missed tests, Farah's Aden training, Salazar's testosterone experiments, Salazar's personal massages, Salazar's relationship with Armstrong, Rupp's thyroid, Rupp's asthma/asthma medication, Levin's trained-too-hard-but-still-calls-it-adult-onset-asthma asthma, they can each be explained away individually but what other group has that many issues to have to explain? What is the explanation for so many extenuating circumstances?

That is what drives the suspicion. And right now, USADA has no better option than to go fishing. Or as an above poster put it: "sue to find out what they can sue for".

Really, unless there is some financial scheming going on, I don't see any opportunity for any investigative body with actual authority to be able to dig where NOP doesn't want them to dig. It will be a long wait.