If doctors are to blame for bringing Testosterone Replacement Therapy into combat sports perhaps they will also be the ones to take TRT TUE’s out. The American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians has issued a press release calling for a ban of TRT TUE’s in combat sports. Given the integral role ringside physicians play in combat sport regulation this public statement is bound to have influence with policy makers.
The press release can be found here (Association of Ringside Physician Press Release TRT TUE) and reads as follows:
For Immediate Release January 27, 2014
Association of Ringside Physicians Releases Consensus Statement on
Therapeutic Use Exemptions for Testosterone Replacement Therapy
The Association of Ringside Physicians (ARP), an international, non-profit
organization dedicated to the health and safety of the boxer and mixed
martial arts athlete, has released a consensus statement on therapeutic use
exemptions for testosterone replace therapy in professional combat sport
athletes, as follows:
The incidence of hypogonadism requiring the use of testosterone
replacement therapy (TRT) in professional athletes is
extraordinarily rare. Accordingly, the use of an anabolic steroid
such as testosterone in a professional boxer or mixed martial artist
is rarely justified. Steroid use of any type, including unmerited
testosterone, significantly increases the safety and health risk to
combat sports athletes and their opponents. TRT in a combat sports
athlete may also create an unfair advantage contradictory to the
integrity of sport. Consequently, the Association of Ringside
Physicians supports the general elimination of therapeutic use
exemptions (TUE) for testosterone replacement therapy.
For more about the ARP, visit its website at
http://www.associationofringsidephysicians.org.
