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The science of doping

Nature volume 454, pages 692–693 (2008)Cite this article

The processes used to charge athletes with cheating are often based on flawed statistics and flawed logic, says Donald A. Berry.

Already, in the run-up to this year's Olympic Games, vast amounts of time, money and media coverage have been spent on sports doping. Several doping experts have contended that tests aren't sensitive enough and let dozens of cheaters slip through the cracks. And some athletes are facing sanctions. Upon testing positive for clenbuterol, US swimmer Jessica Hardy was held back from the Olympic team and faces a two-year ban from the sport. She is attesting her innocence. China has already banned several athletes, some of them for life, on doping charges. Indeed, many world-class athletes will find their life's accomplishments and ambitions, their integrity and their reputations hinging on urine or blood tests. But when an athlete tests positive, is he or she guilty of doping? Because of what I believe to be inherent flaws in the testing practices of doping laboratories, the answer, quite possibly, is no.

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Figure 1: Metabolite data.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Donald A. Berry is head of the Division of Quantitative Sciences, chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Frank T. McGraw Memorial Chair of Cancer Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, 1400 Pressler Street, Houston, Texas 77030-1402, USA. dberry@mdanderson.org,

    Donald A. Berry

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  1. Donald A. Berry
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Additional information

See Editorial, page 667 . Donald Berry testified for the defence team of 1996 Olympian Mary Decker Slaney before a doping hearing board in 1997. He was paid for his time.

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Berry, D. The science of doping. Nature 454, 692–693 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/454692a

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