The devil in the cough syrup

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 7

Sportspersons must keep pace with the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) list of banned substances — failure to do that can lead to trouble. Abhishek Gupta, who made his first-class debut for Punjab last year, found that out the hard way.

Gupta has been suspended for a doping violation after a banned substance, Terbutaline, was found in a urine sample taken from him. He has been handed an eight-month suspension, backdated from January 15.

Accidental ingestion

On January 15 this year, as part of the Indian cricket board’s (BCCI’s) dope-prevention program, Gupta provided a urine sample for testing; the sample was tested and found to contain Terbutaline, which is on WADA’s list of prohibited substances.

Incidentally, Terbutaline can be found in common cough syrups freely available over the counter; but while commoners can consume such cough syrups without a worry, sportspersons need to be wary. 

On January 2, Gupta was part of the Punjab team camp to prepare for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy; on January 5 he played a practice match with a sore throat. The next day, he visited his hometown and felt unwell — he says his throat irritation had worsened, and he had a cough and cold. He went to a doctor, who prescribed him some medicines, instructing him to take them for seven days. The medicines included Blukof syrup, which contains Terbutaline Sulphate. 

Lack of awareness

“It was my first first-class cricket season, and I had not attended any doping seminar as well,” Gupta told The Tribune.  “So, I was not aware of the protocol we need to follow in case we fall sick and are prescribed medication.”

The protocol is that the players must get in touch with the team doctor or BCCI’s doctors in case they are prescribed medicines. Gupta neglected to do that. He took the cough syrup up to January 14. When his sample was taken the next day, he filled out a form declaring the medications he had been using in the previous seven days.  After the positive test, Gupta explained to BCCI how Terbutaline came into his body. “The BCCI is satisfied with Mr Gupta’s explanation that he had taken Terbutaline inadvertently to treat an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection and not as a performance-enhancing drug,” BCCI said in a statement today.

Considering the mitigating circumstances, BCCI determined that Gupta’s fault was ‘normal’, ie deserving a sanction of 8 to 16 months. BCCI said there was no evidence that Gupta gained any unfair advantage due to the presence of Terbutaline in his body.

“What helped me was the fact that I had disclosed, while giving a urine sample, that I had taken medication for cough and fever a few days back,” Gupta says. “That helped me substantiate that the offence was unintended.”

The case highlights the need for professional sportspersons to be very careful when using even common medicines. Any of us can use prescribed medicines without a second thought, but not the sportspersons. “It’s of course tough and stressful to check every medicine we ingest for banned substances,” Gupta says. “Many cricketers refrain from taking medicines for as long they can, fearing they might ingest some banned substance.”