False Positive Tests are Real

The bizarre tempo of cycling has not slowed a bit. Poor David Millar is depressed; time flies so quickly. Poor David is so overwhelmed by his future participation in the 2008 Tour de France. Millar has invested so much time and energy, "blood, sweat, and tears." Somehow it is hard to feel empathy for poor David Millar, a confessed EPO user and cheat. Especially when Levi Leipheimer, a rider above reproach is denied an invite to ride the 2008 Tour de France by ASO.

But Millar seems a bit off his rocker these days in spite of his expertise in doping. Millar expects us to believe that WADA has simplified the approach to doping and he blames the athletic federations for complicating the issues. Right. WADA has simplified the process of banning athletes from competition by writing an incoherent code which denies athletes' due process rights and by using antiquated science expressed in vague WADA Technical Documents. WADA refuses to admit that steroid research has found that individual genetic differences in testosterone enzymes have many effects on testosterone/epitestosterone screening tests. Including "false positive" results in the absence of doping. These "false positive" results were reported by Jenny Jakobsson Schultz of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. These "false positive" results were ignored by most main stream media because Dr. Schultz also found that some people can take synthetic testosterone and not be detected by standard testosterone/epitestosterone screens. Typical of the anti-doping crusade is the hysteria and focus on the issue of people who have a "license to dope" without detection. However, it is taboo to mention people who test positive although they never use PEDs. Reform of the present anti-doping structure is impossible as long as the anti-doping crusade refuses to admit that "false positives" are an inherent factor in PED testing. People will be falsely accused who are innocent. This is a fact of life.

John Fahey of WADA might be considered leader of the "black knights" a group of WADA anti-doping fanatics who refuse to accept this "false positive" reality. Dr. Jenny Jakobsson Schultz and her colleagues the "white knights" should be invited to re-write WADA Technical Document 2004 EAAS and other portions of the WADA code that pertain to her expertise in testosterone testing. Dr. Schultz and her colleagues should emphasise new scientific discoveries in steroid research and their applications to WADA accredited lab testing, including genetic testing if applicable.

Are we expecting too much for WADA to admit to the reality that scientific research is proceeding at such a fast pace that it is almost impossible to keep pace with the new discoveries in PEDs and the methods to detect them? Yes WADA does recognize the threat of Victor Conte and BALCO, designer steroids, masking agents, techniques of blood doping, and the possibility of genetic engineering of future athletes to enhance performance. But what WADA refuses to adknowledge is that they make mistakes too, based on outdated information and outdated criteria for testing. If one athletic career is destroyed because of a WADA mistake which results in a "false positive" test result whether based on incompetent lab testing or by ignorance; then the whole system is failing. Pretending that the problem does not exist will not make it go away. Better is to address the issue with an open mind and formulate a plan to deal with the problem. Only then will the anti-doping crusade work ensuring fairness for everyone.