WADA compliance forms - who will pay for them?

[injuryupdate]

The Federal government is coming down heavy on all sports in Australia to make sure they are WADA compliant. This means every asthmatic and everyone who needs cortisone for any condition is going to have to have paperwork +++ completed on a regular basis to make sure they don't fail a drug test.

These forms take about 5-10 minutes to fill in each, then must be faxed off to multiple locations. There is a significant medicolegal obligation not to get any of the details wrong or to not fail to submit it to the correct registries.

Who is going to pay for these forms (i.e. the cost of completion)?

The doctors can charge the athletes (e.g. suggested fee might be $30), but really the government should be paying. It is ridiculous that these forms are required at all (and only because George W. Bush wants Australia to sign up and we have no autonomy in international politics - e.g. Irag war, Kyoto protocol, WADA). If our Federal government wants to make it complusory for our athletes to fill in bureaucratic forms, they should bring in a Medicare item number for it to be done.

Of course, they won't, because sports medicine only exists when the Federal government has demands (e.g. look after our athletes). When they have obligations (e.g. paying for services under Medicare) they pretend sports medicine doesn't exist.

[hhh]

Interesting that the number of 'asthmatics' in the Australian Olympic team as increased exponentially, maybe why the requirement for such paperwork to be completed?

[jellybean]

If you have any feedback about anything related to the WADA Prohibited List (for example, what should or shouldn’t be included on the Prohibited List, what should or shouldn’t be on the WADA Monitoring Program, the difference between what is classified for in and out-of-competition screening, and substances that require an Abbreviated Therapeutic Use Form), go to the front page of the ASDA website (www.asda.org.au) and complete their brief survey before 1 July 2005.

Where possible, support your comments with references to medical or other scientific evidence, pharmacological effect, or personal experience.

Your feedback is critical. Information collected from the survey will be collated and provided to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which may assist them in finalising the forthcoming 2006 Prohibited List. (Published late 2005 to take effect 1 January 2006). All responses will remain completely anonymous.

[injuryupdate]

Interesting that the number of 'asthmatics' in the Australian Olympic team as increased exponentially, maybe why the requirement for such paperwork to be completed?

And of course if someone was that desperate to 'fake' asthmatic symptoms in order to get the stimulant effect of a Ventolin puffer, do you think that the requirement to have a 3 page form filled in is going to stop them?