Babruisk Sports Medicine Dispensary buys forbidden steroids

Legendary road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong confessed that he had been using illicit performance-enhancing drugs last week. The sevenfold  winner of "Tour de France" used  testosterone, cortisone and growth hormones.  

A tender for cortisone appeared on the Belarusian website of the National Marketing and Price Trends Centre a day before Armstrong's confession. Babruisk Sports Medicine Dispensary (BSMD) needs other glucocorticoids too.

We visited the website of the National Anti-Doping Agency and made sure that the substances are forbidden.

We phoned BSMD  and asked them about the tender. Valyantsina Kramyanetskya, a contact person, confirmed everything.

Valyantsina Kramyanetskya: “The head nurse sends purchase plans to us."

What does the sports dispensary need forbidden substances for?

“They are not given to sportsmen. We have other patients: coaches do not have to go through doping tests, - explained BSMD chief physician Alena Kapylenka. - We also render paid services. Our centre needs them, but we are not going to give dope to sportsmen."

The chief physician explained what glucocorticoids are needed for.

Alena Kapylenka: “The substances are used in various urgent situations like anaphylactic shock and other allergic reactions. Hormones like glucocorticoids are required in such cases."

It is possible to give cortisone to a sportsman too. This procedure may be legalized in exceptional cases.

Alena Kapylenka: “If a sportsman were in a state of anaphylactic shock, I would forget about everything because I would need to save the person's life. Doctors send a special request to the Anti-Doping Committee to receive permission to use such substances. For example, Bjørndalen uses forbidden hormones in the form of spray because he suffers from bronchial asthma."

Such cases should be listed in the so-called doping article.

If the process is legalized, doping control officers will have no reason to complain about such sportsmen.

Cortisone has been used for therapy since the 1950s..

However, devious  sportsmen may use cortisone for faster recovery of inflamed junctions.