Healthcare Matters

I refuse to criticize Lance Armstrong. Besides, he has enough problems without me adding to them. Just stick him on the growing list of world-class athletes who got caught cheating –right?  Let’s look at a few famous and recent offenders:

• Just about everyone who ever cycled at a high level with Lance Armstrong. The fact that Floyd Landis actually tested positive after winning the 2006 Tour de France distinguishes him.
• Marion Jones. A highly decorated Olympian who fell from grace faster than Anthony Wiener. A five medal winner in Sydney, she was stripped of all titles although she never tested positive for any drugs.
• Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Other than freakishly large heads, what these two supposedly share in common is an extraordinary capacity for denial.

Under pressure like, “either fess up or you’re going to jail,” most athletes confess to their accusers, regardless of guilt. Why? Because “either fess up or you’re going to jail” is more literal in these situations than most of us realize. These athletes are not hunkering down with their lawyers trying to exploit their right to “due process.” They don’t have such luxury. Rather, the standard that a world-class athlete must beat is known as “comfortable satisfaction.” Yes, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is yet another non-profit that not only operates under its own set of rules, but it is routinely successful in enlisting the aggressive support of government law enforcement.

To be clear, nothing resembling “beyond a reasonable doubt” is required before the USADA can ruin you. If it thinks it’s got the goods on you, whether there’s a positive test or not, you get charged. And if the charges stick, which is usually the case, the athlete gets nailed with what is called a “non-analytical positive.” For example, like Armstrong, Marion Jones never failed a test. Yet both were declared to be “non-analytical positives.” Both had their titles stripped, and both were banned from their respective sports for life.

The World Anti-Doping Agency, including the USADA, have concluded that drug testing has limited value. Therefore, they have given themselves the authority to make judgment calls. Although the USADA can’t issue subpoenas, as said, it can initiate criminal investigations like the two-year grand jury investigation led by the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s office that just took down Armstrong. Faced with threats of jail time, everyone surrounding Armstrong was made an offer they couldn’t refuse. In fact, the U.S. attorney let everyone who cooperated off the hook and Armstrong was done. This week, when Armstrong said, Roberto Duran-like, “no mas,” the doping cops were free to declare him a non-analytical positive. The fact that Armstrong was probably the most drug-tested athlete in history and that he never tested positive for any drugs turned out to be meaningless.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sit well with me.

Source: Wired, LA Times.

—Tom Finn