The ITIA Report on Simona Halep

[mmmm8]

From the Guardian: As part of the case, a woman of a similar height and stature was given the same amount of Keto MCT as Halep [took] before her positive test. However the control study found that the values of the banned drug in Halep’s urine test were between “46 and 85 times higher” than in the highest value of the volunteer’s urine.

My question: how was there Roxadustat in the MCT that the woman took for the investigation? Was it manufactured that way just for this test? Doubtful, so where did it come from? The same batch as Halep’s medicine? They were able to get some months later? And if they did bake it up for the test, how did they know how much Roxadustat to put in it? They would have had to know how much was in Halep’s contaminated sample.

I don’t get this at all.

This is just weird to me - you can't claim any valid result with a sample size of 1 person? People's metabolism differs widely, just because someone is the same height and weight doesn't mean their body works exactly the same. How is this scientifically significant?

(Not saying their conclusion is wrong on theory, just don't see how this "experiment" is useful?)

[ti-amie]

I think Halep was throwing so much innuendo around that they tried to do every possible test to counter her accusations.

I could be wrong (I'm not now or have ever been in the medical profession) but I think this is how they do tests for any kind of medicine that will be given to the general public; the placebo vs real medicine kind of test.

[mmmm8]

I think Halep was throwing so much innuendo around that they tried to do every possible test to counter her accusations.

I could be wrong (I'm not now or have ever been in the medical profession) but I think this is how they do tests for any kind of medicine that will be given to the general public; the placebo vs real medicine kind of test.

Yes, but on a statistically significant sample, not a random person with the same height whose metabolism and other functions may be affected by other medical conditions or medications or just nature.

[ti-amie]

[ashkor87]

I have no faith at all in these biological passport thingies.. science does not yet understand the fine details of how the body works.. it doesnt mean much, in my opinion. It should not be given so much weight.

[ashkor87]

Before I am called unscientific, let me also point out - it is not unscientific to be skeptical, it is unscientific to accept findings without questioning them. To use a cliche, I wouldn't hang a dog on the basis of such a report..I would need a witness or something more solid to pronounce Halep guilty

[ponchi101]

So, you would need to have somebody come and say: "I saw Simona Halep take PED's, on such date, and it was this drug, and it was this amount".
How scientific would that be?
Nobody claims we know how the human body works WITH 100% ACCURACY. But that is not what it is being asked here. The question is: Were amounts of a certain set of drugs found in a sample of Simona Halep's blood? If the tests are reliable, and they come back positive, then the answer is yes.
And they do have a very large sample base. Basically, all the athletes in the world that are subject to drug testing.
You can question all findings; that is valid. But when all the questions have been answered and you are still questioning...

[ti-amie]

Ben Rothenberg
@BenRothenberg
·
Jul 19
Just asked Halep’s lawyer Howard Jacobs about the CAS decision still remaining unpublished and got a quick reply: