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Current anti-doping policy: a critical appraisal
Bengt Kayser1, Alexandre Mauron, Andy Miah
1Professor, Institute of movement sciences and sports medicine, Faculty of medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland. bengt.kayser@medecine.unige.ch.
BMC Medical Ethics
|March 31, 2007
Summary
Current anti-doping measures in sports face ethical challenges and questionable assumptions about fairness and health. A harm reduction approach focusing on controlled use may be more effective than eradication efforts.
Area of Science:
- Sports Ethics
- Public Health Policy
- Doping Control
Background:
- Anti-doping efforts, intensified by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), are resource-intensive and primarily target elite athletes.
- Current anti-doping strategies are based on unsubstantiated claims regarding fairness, athlete health, and the value of natural athletic capacity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate the ethical foundations and effectiveness of current severe anti-doping control measures.
- To propose alternative strategies for managing doping and doping-like behaviors in sports and the general population.
Main Methods:
- Review of current anti-doping policies and ethical frameworks.
- Analysis of the public health implications of anti-doping strategies.
- Ethical critique of medical involvement in anti-doping.
Main Results:
- Existing anti-doping measures are built on questionable ethical grounds and unsubstantiated assumptions.
- Severe anti-doping controls disproportionately affect elite athletes, neglecting broader public health concerns related to amateur sports and general performance enhancement.
- Current strategies may inadvertently promote dangerous practices like needle sharing and create ethical dilemmas for medical professionals.
Conclusions:
- The goal of eradicating doping in sports is likely unattainable and may be less effective than a harm reduction approach.
- Controlled use and harm reduction strategies offer a more pragmatic alternative to the current repressive anti-doping model.
- Medical supervision of performance enhancement practices in sports could be a more ethical and effective approach.
