Sports Physicians, Ethics and Antidoping Governance
Our study of these four cases of doping offences showed that (at least some) team doctors are not sufficiently aware of the problem of doping in sport. This ignorance or neglect has led to serious consequences in the lives of dedicated elite athletes and, in one case at least, for the physician. Sports medicine as a specialism is still in the early years of professionalisation, and standards vary widely around the globe. Given the heterogeneous demands upon GPs it is unreasonable to expect them to have any detailed awareness of the PL. Elite athletes do not comprise the vast majority of patient cases. Here, athletes must be empowered by antidoping education from NADOs and International Federations, to have the awareness that they should inform the physician of their fairly unique occupational needs and related governance. This is one reason why antidoping jurisprudence acknowledges a lesser responsibility if the athlete finds themselves in the care of a physician they have not chosen, such as an event physician, or a national team doctor with whom they do not have an ongoing professional relationship. After that, one can reasonably expect the physician to make themselves aware of the athlete's needs and act accordingly. Other researches show that these cases are not isolated incidents but symptomatic of a wider professional issue. Clearly, international federations have a duty to guide their athletes towards specialist sports physicians where this is possible, and where a higher duty of care can be expected. Yet, many sports physicians simply do not know doping regulations or the PL in sufficient detail. Many of them have committed errors or have failed in their duty of care to athletes while it is the athletes that are punished. It is clear that athletes' rights are jeopardised in at least some of these circumstances and this demands a new approach and prompt education and adequate training of medical doctors in this domain. From the perspective of doping Governance, the WADC, the role of medical doctors must be defined with greater clarity, and antidoping education taken more seriously. Thus, in the period of WADC revision processes before the World Anti-doping Conference of 2013, it is necessary to better define the role of medical doctor in sport and more precisely to regulate punishment of physician errors in a way that is both systematic and fair across international boundaries and sports federations.
Conclusion
Our study of these four cases of doping offences showed that (at least some) team doctors are not sufficiently aware of the problem of doping in sport. This ignorance or neglect has led to serious consequences in the lives of dedicated elite athletes and, in one case at least, for the physician. Sports medicine as a specialism is still in the early years of professionalisation, and standards vary widely around the globe. Given the heterogeneous demands upon GPs it is unreasonable to expect them to have any detailed awareness of the PL. Elite athletes do not comprise the vast majority of patient cases. Here, athletes must be empowered by antidoping education from NADOs and International Federations, to have the awareness that they should inform the physician of their fairly unique occupational needs and related governance. This is one reason why antidoping jurisprudence acknowledges a lesser responsibility if the athlete finds themselves in the care of a physician they have not chosen, such as an event physician, or a national team doctor with whom they do not have an ongoing professional relationship. After that, one can reasonably expect the physician to make themselves aware of the athlete's needs and act accordingly. Other researches show that these cases are not isolated incidents but symptomatic of a wider professional issue. Clearly, international federations have a duty to guide their athletes towards specialist sports physicians where this is possible, and where a higher duty of care can be expected. Yet, many sports physicians simply do not know doping regulations or the PL in sufficient detail. Many of them have committed errors or have failed in their duty of care to athletes while it is the athletes that are punished. It is clear that athletes' rights are jeopardised in at least some of these circumstances and this demands a new approach and prompt education and adequate training of medical doctors in this domain. From the perspective of doping Governance, the WADC, the role of medical doctors must be defined with greater clarity, and antidoping education taken more seriously. Thus, in the period of WADC revision processes before the World Anti-doping Conference of 2013, it is necessary to better define the role of medical doctor in sport and more precisely to regulate punishment of physician errors in a way that is both systematic and fair across international boundaries and sports federations.
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