The drug testing entities are driving themselves nuts. Why? Because every
time they think they have the lid on one thing, the lid pops off another.
EPOs, testosterone, HGH, caffeine.... Well, the list is too long to delve
into here, but the list of banned drugs is looooooooong. EPOs are the topic
at hand. Questions of who has used and who (if any) haven't. And the
testing is expensive and not always completely reliable.

Some of these items come into serious question when illnesses are involved.
There is no doubt in my mind that Lance Armstrong was given EPOs as part of
his chemotherapy recovery. It is a standard safeguard for saving the
patient's life. But I have no way of knowing whether he was given them when
he was in competition, nor do I have any way of knowing whether they gave
him any advantage if he was, or if they just brought his red cell count to
"within normal limits." Only his doctors know for sure. He may not even
know.

The point is that there are times when banned substances are required to
keep an athlete functioning normally. Cortisone *MAY* have been a
requirement to keep Landis' hip functioning during TDF.

For all of these drugs there are easy blood tests to show whether they are
in balance, or "within normal limits." Soooo.... Wouldn't it be so much
easier simply to collect pre-race blood samples from all the athletes and
have them analyzed for whatever may be outside normal limits? Simply
announce that if your blood does not meet "race standards" you will be
disqualified. Period. Then who cares if people take EPOs? If they take
enough to give them an unfair edge, they're out of the game!

And the testing is so much easier and cheaper.

Oh... A question was recently asked about what drugs are banned. If you
have any questions, you can call the IOC (or in the U.S. call USOC) Medical
Hotline and ask. They have a current list for everything from cough meds
that contain banned substances (and cough meds that don't) to blood doping
no-nos. (God, I hope this information isn't out-dated!)

Caroline