NADA spells out brand names of banned drugs

BANGALORE: Ignorance may no longer be bliss for athletes: both the wilful offenders and those who inadvertently use drugs or medicines which may harm their sporting careers.
In a well-thought out move, National Anti-Doping Agency has compiled a list of brand names of drugs and medicines which contain substances banned by World Anti-Doping Agency.
The initiative answers the collective prayer of athletes who did not know who to ask particularly when they were faced with the difficult situation of using a medicine to cure themselves of an ailment.
There have been many examples of inadvertent drug abuse in the past but one instance that shook Indian sportdom was when badminton star Aparna Popat tested positive for stimulant methylpropanolamine months before the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
A pupil of the Prakash Padukone academy then, Aparna had taken a popular cold-and-flu tablet available over the counter and served a three-month ban that effectively killed her chances at the Olympics.
At that point in time, both Aparna and her coaches at the academy had felt that brand names of drugs and medicines ought to be published along with the generic names of the banned substances. An attempt was made in 2004 when the late Sunil Dutt was the sports minister but NADA's version, which pertains to the prohibited list of 2010, seems infinitely better.
NADA director general Rahul Bhatnagar said his organisation had embarked upon the exercise four months ago with the assistance of the director general of health services and the drug controller general of India.
"This list should be helpful to all sportspersons, coaches and support personnel as it will enable them to identify such medicines/drugs to avoid their use. In case any athlete is prescribed any of these for treatment of a legitimate ailment then he/she can seek a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) from NADA in advance as required under the WADA/NADA code. The list will be amended periodically based on modifications by WADA," Bhatnagar said.
Incidentally no brand name has been associated with methylhexaneamine, the stimulant which has had the sports fraternity in a tizzy since last year.
"There is no drug available in the market which contains MHA," Bhatnagar explained, adding that NADA would soon prepare a list of food supplements available in the market and get them tested before chalking out another ready reckoner for athletes.
The list of drugs has been uploaded in NADA website www.nada.nic.in and will also be published by the agency for distribution among all stakeholders.