The ARBITRAL AWARD: CAS 2014/A/3487 of Veronica Campbell

Brown versus The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) and The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) states that the possibility of environment contamination of Veronica Campbell Brown’s samples cannot be excluded.

The panel also concluded that environmental contamination could have arisen from the failure of the sample collectors to follow the correct procedure as outlined in the applicable International Standard for Testing. Whilst we celebrate Veronica Campbell Brown’s exoneration, what compassion have we shown for two lesser-known athletes — Travis Smikle and Allison Randall?

Both of these athletes were sanctioned for hydrochlorothiazide (HCT), a diuretic used to treat hypertension. Randall was recently banned for two years. She insisted that she did not know how HCT got in her system.

Did this girl really cheat? The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) notes a significant disparity between the percentage of positive HCT between the rest of the world, which was 0.05 per cent in 2012 and the percentage of positive HCT test amongst Jamaican athletes competing at the National Stadium during a two-month period in 2013 ,which was 3 per cent.

This sixtyfold disparity is frightening when taken at face value because it could indicate that Jamaicans are deliberately cheating with diuretics. However, the CAS panel noted that two out of the three positive HCT results occurred following violation of the partial sample collection process.

Page six of the document stated: “One of those athletes (Mr Smikle) tested positive after providing a partial sample that was collected in violation of the WADA IST and the 2011 Regulations on 22 June 2013.”

I am not one of those who are going to crucify the JAAA and JADCO. Mistakes can be made. The labs in Russia and Brazil had major problems with some of the test results and had to be reprimanded by WADA. Jamaica signed on to the UNESCO convention and established JADCO; therefore, collectively as citizens and government we must ensure that JADCO works. We cannot allow an external anti-doping body to be in total control of Jamaica’s anti-doping programmes.

How do we move forward? There is a significant problem as it relates to hypertension, diabetes and obesity in the Jamaican population. A recent lifestyle survey done in Jamaica found that nearly 10 per cent of our population have diabetes and approximately 30 per cent have hypertension. Nearly two-thirds of the population is overweight. This means that diuretics (HCTs) are widely used in Jamaica. Quoting from: CAS 2014/A/3487 Veronica Campbell Brown versus JAAA & IAAF.

Professor Peter Sever — Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Head of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Imperial College, London, “explained that HCT is ‘widely prevalent’ in wastewater, groundwater and drinking water. The chemical is probably the most widely used drug for treating high blood pressure. It is excreted in human waste and therefore can be found in human urine, faeces, sweat, skin and hair. HCT can enter the water supply through human water and is unusually resistant to removal through normal water purification processes”.

I would suggest to JAAA/JADCO that an environmental impact assessment be done on the doping control room at the stadium. The doping control room should be properly decontaminated, an extractor fan be put in to get rid of airborne contaminants. Partial sample collection kits should be accessible to the doping control officers (DCOs) and should be stored at the correct temperature.

The access to that room must be restricted only to the doping officers and the chaperones on call that day and the athletes selected for doping control. No one else: No JADCO administrator, no nurse, other doctors (Non-DCO) unless an emergency, should have access to that room because of the chance of contamination by too much traffic in and out.

Finally, good anti-doping practices require the application of strict rules. If an athlete is to be punished for a violation, then the fundamental right of the athlete must be protected in knowing that WADA/IAAF/JAAA/JADCO has instituted the correct procedures.

Editor’s note: Dr Rachel Irving is the Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies, Mona.