The Public Health Consequences of Performance-Enhancing Substances - Who Bears Responsibility? [RUFKM]
The nonmedical use of performance-enhancing substances, particularly androgens and related drugs, has been a global public health problem for several decades. A meta-analysis of 271 studies published between 1970 and 2013 estimated lifetime prevalence rates of 6.4% among males and 1.6% among females. The use of banned performance-enhancing drugs in elite sports has received much attention but is merely the tip of the iceberg.
…
Whose responsibility is it to police the illicit sale of androgens and selective androgen receptor modulators or similar violations of federal laws and public safety?
The medical profession has no authority in this area. Consumers are unlikely to become involved because nonmedical androgen users, like other individuals with substance use disorders, often conceal and deny their use. The FDA is responsible for taking action against any adulterated or misbranded dietary supplement product after it reaches the market.
However, unlike drugs, the vendor (not the FDA) is responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of its products and there is little incentive to do so. Flagrant violations of these statutes abound, and the FDA does not have the resources to address all of these cases in enough detail to take corrective legal action.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) shares responsibility because androgens are schedule III drugs. However, the DEA is overwhelmed with the opioid epidemic, and industry-sponsored legislation last year seriously impaired efforts of the DEA to thwart complicit narcotic distributors. It is unrealistic to think that the DEA will turn its attention to androgens when opioid addiction remains a major concern.
Without major changes in the laws to regulate putative dietary supplements and internet sales (along with substantial resources for enforcement), the unrestricted abuse of androgens and related drugs among the general public will continue. …
THE PAUCITY OF RELIABLE DATA ON ANDROGEN ABUSE AND THE LACK OF TRAINING FOR PHYSICIANS ABOUT THE ACUTE OR LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH NONMEDICAL ANDROGEN USE MAKE DEALING WITH THE CURRENT SITUATION MORE DIFFICULT. … [AND WHO BEARS FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT?]
Now is the time for the medical community to rally government authorities to take action to prevent the ready access of these potent drugs. [BUT, NOT TRAIN & LEARN ON TREATMENT. FUCKING IDIOTS!]
Auchus RJ, Brower KJ. The Public Health Consequences of Performance-Enhancing Substances - Who Bears Responsibility?. JAMA. 2017;318(20):1983–1984. The Public Health Consequences of Performance-Enhancing Substances
The nonmedical use of performance-enhancing substances, particularly androgens and related drugs, has been a global public health problem for several decades. A meta-analysis of 271 studies published between 1970 and 2013 estimated lifetime prevalence rates of 6.4% among males and 1.6% among females. The use of banned performance-enhancing drugs in elite sports has received much attention but is merely the tip of the iceberg.
…
Whose responsibility is it to police the illicit sale of androgens and selective androgen receptor modulators or similar violations of federal laws and public safety?
The medical profession has no authority in this area. Consumers are unlikely to become involved because nonmedical androgen users, like other individuals with substance use disorders, often conceal and deny their use. The FDA is responsible for taking action against any adulterated or misbranded dietary supplement product after it reaches the market.
However, unlike drugs, the vendor (not the FDA) is responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of its products and there is little incentive to do so. Flagrant violations of these statutes abound, and the FDA does not have the resources to address all of these cases in enough detail to take corrective legal action.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) shares responsibility because androgens are schedule III drugs. However, the DEA is overwhelmed with the opioid epidemic, and industry-sponsored legislation last year seriously impaired efforts of the DEA to thwart complicit narcotic distributors. It is unrealistic to think that the DEA will turn its attention to androgens when opioid addiction remains a major concern.
Without major changes in the laws to regulate putative dietary supplements and internet sales (along with substantial resources for enforcement), the unrestricted abuse of androgens and related drugs among the general public will continue. …
THE PAUCITY OF RELIABLE DATA ON ANDROGEN ABUSE AND THE LACK OF TRAINING FOR PHYSICIANS ABOUT THE ACUTE OR LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH NONMEDICAL ANDROGEN USE MAKE DEALING WITH THE CURRENT SITUATION MORE DIFFICULT. … [AND WHO BEARS FUCKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT?]
Now is the time for the medical community to rally government authorities to take action to prevent the ready access of these potent drugs. [BUT, NOT TRAIN & LEARN ON TREATMENT. FUCKING IDIOTS!]
Auchus RJ, Brower KJ. The Public Health Consequences of Performance-Enhancing Substances - Who Bears Responsibility?. JAMA. 2017;318(20):1983–1984. The Public Health Consequences of Performance-Enhancing Substances
Is the Earth flat too?
