Friday, April 05, 2013

How to get rich - sell cancer causing drug to athletes

I have always wondered why no one has questioned whether Lance Armstrong's cancer might have been triggered by "performance enhancing" drugs. Is it just that most people are not in the habit of thinking much so it doesn't even cross their minds, or do they just not want to bring up the subject, because they admire him for persevering after suffering this illness?

www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729103.400-antidoping-agency-warns-athletes-of-black-market-drug.html

New Scientist 26 March 2013

DRUG cheats watch out. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has taken the rare step of issuing a warning to athletes after discovering abuse of a black market drug that causes multiple cancers in rodents.

The drug, called GW501516, was originally developed by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to stimulate muscles to burn fats instead of sugars, in order to raise levels of "good" cholesterol. But the company abandoned further development in 2006 after tests on rats showed that at all doses, the drug rapidly causes cancers in a multitude of organs, including the liver, bladder, stomach, skin, thyroid, tongue, testes, ovaries and womb. "GSK does not manufacture it or authorise its sale," says a company spokesman.

In 2009, GSK warned WADA of the potential risks of abuse of the drug, and the agency added the drug to its list of prohibited substances that year.

The drug is openly promoted on websites for bodybuilders and athletes.

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