MacLeod cleared of failed drug test
Scotland second row Scott MacLeod has been has been cleared by an independent judicial committee to continue to play the game after he was found to have inadvertently taken a prohibited asthma medication without the required permission.
Scotland second row Scott MacLeod has been has been cleared by an independent judicial committee to continue to play the game after he was found to have inadvertently taken a prohibited asthma medication without the required permission.
Asthmatic MacLeod, the 16-times-capped Scarlets forward, was tested by UK Sport, the national anti-doping organisation in the UK, as part of Scottish Rugby's no-notice doping control tests at a Scotland training session in January.
Analysis of his urine sample showed the presence of Terbutaline, a drug, taken through an inhaler, to treat asthma.
Terbutaline is on the World Anti-Doping Code Prohibited list unless, when administered by inhalation, a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) has been obtained in advance.
MacLeod did not have a current valid TUE for this drug. He does have a current TUE for Salbutamol, another asthma medication. On that TUE form, which was issued by the Border Reivers' doctor in April 2006, it was noted that 'he was previously on Terbutaline but that it was not available at the time'.
Records confirm that MacLeod's previous TUE was for Terbutaline. MacLeod left Borders, who have since disbanded, at the end of the 2006 season and his current TUE is valid until April 2008.
Scottish Rugby was contacted by UK Sport on the 14th of February with the result of the sample and MacLeod opted to attend an independent judicial hearing last Monday.
At that hearing he explained that he was not clear on the distinction between the different types of asthma inhaler. His understanding was that he had a valid TUE for his asthma inhaler and he did not appreciate that separate TUEs would be needed for the two different drugs. At some stage after his TUE was granted for Salbutamol, he reverted to using Terbutaline.
Terbutaline is listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a 'Specified Substance' being 'particularly susceptible to unintentional anti-doping rule violations because of general availability in medicinal products or less likely to be successfully abused as a doping agent'.
When it is found that a Specified Substance has not been taken to enhance sports performance, the mandatory sanction ranges from a minimum of a warning to a maximum of a 1-year suspension. The independent judicial committee was chaired by Rod McKenzie of Harper Macleod LLP and also comprised Professor Donald Macleod and Dr Brian Walker.
“The Judicial Committee found that the player had committed an unintentional anti-doping violation: viz the presence in a sample of urine taken during out-of-competition testing of a Beta2-Agonist, Terbutaline, without the required Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE),” their statement read.
“The Committee accepted that the absence of the required TUE was entirely inadvertent since the player had a valid subsisting TUE for Salbutamol and that as a chronic sufferer of severe asthma the use of Terbutaline in substitution for Salbutamol was not intended to enhance performance.
“The TUE for Salbutamol given by the player in April 2006 could have included for Terbutaline and the omission of that drug at that time was occasioned only by a temporary absence of supply by manufacturers. In the circumstances the player was administered the minimum sanction of a warning and a reprimand.”
Macleod, given seven days to challenge the decision, accepted it on Monday.
“I was pretty unaware of the different types of asthma medication but this experience has been a bit of a wake-up call,” he said.
“I'm not a cheat and I'm pleased that the panel accepted that I'd used Terbutaline inadvertently and that there had been no intention to enhance sports performance.
“Hopefully other players will be a bit more savvy given what's happened to me. I want to put this behind me now and concentrate on the job in hand with the national team.”