JAMAICA’S taekwondo Olympian Kenneth Edwards is now awaiting the verdict of the three-member Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary panel after his defence team presented strong arguments for no fault or negligence at yesterday’s doping hearing at the Jamaica Conference Centre.

Edwards, 28, failed an out-of-competition drug test for the banned diuretic Hydrochlorothiazide last August, but attorneys Danielle Chai and Brian Moodie argued that the violation was no fault of his, and that there was no attempt to cheat.

However, he will have to await the ruling of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel consisting of Chairman Kent Pantry, former Director of Public Prosecutions; famed neurosurgeon Dr Ivor Crandan; and Olympian Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn to know his fate.

“The panel would like a little more time to deliberate on this matter based on the very detailed submissions made by the complainant and the respondents. So we will advise you when we have made our decision,” said Pantry at the end of the hearing yesterday.

But based on the evidence presented, and the apparent agreement of Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission’s (JADCO) attorney, Lackston Robinson, a favourable decision of a reprimand, a public warning or a maximum three months seem to be on the cards.

Edwards, who in 2012 became the first Jamaican to represent the island at the Olympics in taekwondo, said he told his personal doctor that he was an athlete and special care must be taken.

He also said he liaised with a sports doctor, who is a good friend, about the medication (Ciprofloxacin) and was given the go-ahead. He also revealed that he contacted JADCO prior to taking a new supplement Mega Men Sports in 2012. “First, I investigated and checked on the Internet.

I would talk to my doctor. I would do extensive research on whatever it is, which is not a difficult process for me because I only stick to one or two types of vitamins,” said Edwards, a nine-time Jamaican champion and two-time USA champion, as he testified on his methods of researching new medications.

According to Edwards, he was demonstrating the fine arts of taekwondo at Up Park Camp while breaking boards when he injured his hand. He applied ice at first, but when the swelling persisted, he went to the doctor.

He took the prescribed antibiotic Ciprofloxacin on August 15 and was tested on August 16 in an out-of-competition test that proved positive for Hydrochlorothiazide.

Key witness in the case, Professor Wayne McLaughin, the deputy dean in the Faculty of Medical Science at the University of the West Indies, Mona, gave evidence that the container in which the pills were handed to him at the pharmacy could have been contaminated.

Based on McLaughin’s findings, the amount of the banned substance found in Ciprofloxacin is so minuscule that it would be of no help to the athlete.

“If persons were taking this as a diuretic using these particular tablets, they would have to take about 50 million of these tablets,” revealed Prof McLaughin. A diuretic is any substance that promotes the production of urine and could be used as a masking agent because it flushes the system.

The defence team of Moodie and Chai wanted to rely on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Doping Control code 10.5.1 of No Fault or Negligence for their client.

If an athlete establishes in an individual case that he or she bears no fault or negligence, the otherwise applicable period of ineligibility shall be eliminated.

However, in one of the few incidents in which JADCO, attorney Robinson disagreed, he argued that once the substance enters the athlete’s body, some level of responsibility must fall with that person.

Robinson then suggested that they should have used code 10.4 which is the Elimination or Reduction of the Period of Ineligibility for Specified Substances under Specific Circumstances, where an athlete can establish how a specified substance entered his or her body or came into his or her possession, and that such specified substance was not intended to enhance the athlete’s sport performance or mask the use of a performance-enhancing substance.

After a 30-minute deliberation the panel returned, but could not deliver a verdict and asked for more time to take their decision.