The Hindu : Sport : A wild goose chase

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Saturday, Feb 06, 2010
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A wild goose chase

NEW DELHI: Monika Devi could not corroborate her claim that her ‘positive’ test in 2008 was because of a medicine prescribed by a doctor for a gynaecological condition.

Her three-day-old argument, originally made as a written submission and then withdrawn, needed corroboration on Friday through the presence and confirmation of her doctor.

The doctor could not be produced to depose before the disciplinary panel.

The drug in question, norethisterone, is an oral contraceptive that can also be prescribed for various conditions related to menstrual cycles.

It is not a prohibited drug, however. Not just that, it does not produce testosterone metabolites, as reported in the case of Monika’s urine samples.

Norethisterone, in fact, produces the primary metabolite in urine 19-norandrosterone (19-NA), a metabolite of nandrolone.

Since it creates a confusion in all 19-norandrosterone positive results in the case of female athletes who might be on norethisterone medication, WADA has prescribed follow-up tests to determine the source of 19-NA.

At no stage during the last hearing did the NADA attempt to rebut the claim that norethisterone could have caused Monika’s positive test. It proved irrelevant in the end. Even if the doctor had come and deposed the argument could not have been sustained from a scientific viewpoint. — Special Correspondent

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