Bob Larson's Daily Tennis News
October 8, 2009
Starting in January, tennis players looking for ways to treat a cold might be in for a surprise. The World Anti-Doping Agency recently announced that pseudoephedrine, a commonly used sinus/nasal decongestant, has been put back on the banned substance list for in-competition use during the 2010 season.
The ban on this stimulant was lifted in 2003, but since 2004, has been placed on the list of substances in the World Anti-Doping Agency's Monitoring Program. According to the WADA, "Results from the Monitoring Program over the past five years have shown a sustained increase in urinary concentrations of pseudoephedrine. There is clear evidence of abuse in some sports and some regions, which show clusters of samples with high pseudoephedrine concentrations many times in excess of concentrations normally found." As a result of these findings, the WADA has reintroduced pseudoephedrine in their 2010 Prohibited List.
Tennis players who use pseudoephedrine for valid therapeutic purposes during competition will qualify for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE), in which a doctor will determine if such stimulant use is necessary. Urinary concentrations of pseudoephedrine at 150 micrograms (or below) are currently deemed acceptable within the WADA's Monitoring Program.
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