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While I don't condone sharapova I do wonder why a drug created for heart problems was completely banned. Melodinium is meant to taken in 4-6week batches, a maximum of 3 times a year. If pros are still allowed to take steroids for colds with a TUE, then why can't athletes diagnosed with a heart problem be allowed to have CONTROLLED (in caps so you all don't get excited) access to this?
TheArchitect-
Do you really think the 99 elite level athletes caught since the beginning of the year have been taking it for their heart conditions?
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Probably because of the extent of it's abuse as a PED. I find it hard to see how a dicky ticker and world class athletic performance stacks up
Edit- what AP said
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why can't athletes diagnosed with a heart problem be allowed to have CONTROLLED (in caps so you all don't get excited) access to this?
I think they can, if they can get a TUE. In WADA-speak, your "completely banned" becomes "prohibited at all times, except where permitted by the terms of TUE". You can get a TUE for EPO if you have the right disease.
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Melodinium
You've got the wrong substance there, that's what musicians take when they dope. (Well, apart from dope and blow and smack and speed and acid and so on.)
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Very late to this but apart from the obvious that @andyp pointed out (all the athletes being caught doping with it) the point with meldonium/Mildronate is OK, even if Sharapova has a heart problem, why was she taking it?
It's an old drug sold in just a few Eastern European countries that also just happens to boost exercise tolerance. The scientific evidence for Mildronate is limited compared with medicines widely available in Europe and the U.S. (where she trains), which also have full regulatory backing and years of robust safety/efficacy data.
It's also not licenced by the FDA in the U.S. or the EU. So why risk it?
andyp
dave4
gbj_tester
Oliver Schick
Fox
True, I used to have to get a TUE for asthma drugs, now everybody can take them :-)