Pharmaceutical services at the Tenth Pan American Games.

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Public Health

Background:

• The 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis required comprehensive medical and pharmaceutical support.
• Volunteer pharmacists played a key role in delivering these services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the pharmaceutical services and doping control operations during the 1987 Pan American Games.
• To highlight the involvement of pharmacists in a major international athletic event.

Main Methods:

• Establishment of a temporary pharmacy within a U.S. Army facility.
• Recruitment, training, and deployment of over 100 volunteer pharmacists.
• Development of a formulary based on previous games and sports organization requests.
• Implementation of a doping control process including urine sample collection and testing.
• Staffing of doping control centers with multidisciplinary teams.

Main Results:

• The temporary pharmacy operated for 26 days, filling 968 prescriptions.
• Commonly dispensed medications included ibuprofen, terfenadine, acetaminophen, penicillin V potassium, clotrimazole cream, and naproxen.
• A total of 981 athletes underwent doping control testing.
• Six athletes (0.6%) tested positive for banned substances.

Conclusions:

• Volunteer pharmacists successfully provided essential pharmaceutical services and contributed significantly to doping control efforts.
• The event demonstrated the capacity of pharmacists to manage complex pharmaceutical operations and support anti-doping initiatives in large-scale sporting events.