Paul Craig Roberts
One of the world’s best female tennis players, Maria Sharapova, has been suspended, because a medicine she has been taking legally under a doctor’s prescription for ten years was suddenly retroactively declared to be a prohibited substance that is a “metabolic modulator.”
The medicine, known as mildronate and also as meldonium in its banned name, has been in medical use for thirty years. Its inventor declared that the prohibition of mildronate “is a crime” and will lead to deaths among athletes. He says that it has not been proven that the medicine enhances athlete performance, but it does protect their hearts from over-exertion.
Mildronate is used to treat heart problems, magnesium deficiency and diabetes. Sharapova suffers from magnesium deficiency. There is diabetes in her family history, and doctors saw signs that she was developing the disease.
The medicine is not designed to improve athletic performance. However, the medicine does protect athletes’ hearts as they push to their limits. Apparently it is this aspect of the medicine that caused the World Anti-Doping Agency to conclude that the medicine facilitates recovery from exertion and, thereby, enhances physical capabilities.
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