Football Officials Dispute Thomas’s Drug Defense

Contrary to the explanation by New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Hollis Thomas that his positive drug test resulted from asthma medications, two football officials with knowledge of the case said a performance-enhancing drug was to blame.

Saints defensive lineman Hollis Thomas blamed his positive drug test on prescribed asthma medications.

The N.F.L. suspended Thomas for four games Tuesday for violating the leagues banned-substance policy. A drug test on Aug. 7 found clenbuterol, a banned drug that helps burn fat and promotes muscle growth, in Thomass body.

Thomas, a 6-foot tackle who is listed at 306 pounds and goes by the nickname Tank, has struggled with his weight and asthma for his entire career. He was traded to New Orleans in April after nine season with the Philadelphia Eagles and has flourished for the resurgent Saints, registering 3½ sacks and 43 tackles through 12 games.

The loss of Thomas, 32, comes at a crucial point for the Saints (8-4). New Orleans plays at Dallas on Sunday in a game that could help determine home-field advantage in the National Football Conference playoffs. He will miss the last four games of the regular season but will be eligible to return for the playoffs.

His agents, Michael Bauer and Ron Slavin, cited a letter used in their appeal in which the Saints doctor, John R. Amoss, said it was highly plausible that asthma medications were responsible for the presence of clenbuterol in the urine sample. In the letter, Dr. Amoss wrote that Thomass severe asthma required the treatment of high doses of inhaled steroids and other drugs. Dr. Amoss wrote that the combination of drugs probably produced a false positive result.

One football official, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said the drug found in Holliss system could not have resulted from a combination of the medications. If the drugs that Thomas was prescribed by the team doctor were the only medications found in his system, he would have won his appeal, the official said.

N.F.L. players can seek medical exemptions after testing positive for a banned substance. If a drug has been prescribed by a doctor for a legitimate health reason, the violation can be settled and no suspension is issued.

Advair and albuterol, drugs that Thomas was taking for his asthma, are included on the N.F.L.s list of prohibited substances. But they were not cited as violations because they were prescribed by the team doctor, the official said.

As long as what is found in the system is what the doctor prescribed you, you are fine, he said. But in this case, there was something else besides what the doctor prescribed.

The second football official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, independently confirmed what the other official said.

Drug-testing experts also questioned the team doctors written argument. Clenbuterol is not a steroid, but it cannot be obtained legally for human use in the United States. Only veterinarians treating horses with severe breathing problems similar to asthma can prescribe the drug.

I have never heard the proposition put forth that this combination of drugs would produce a positive test for clenbuterol, said Dr. Gary I. Wadler, an associate professor of medicine at New York University and an adviser for the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Clenbuterol is not more effective at treating asthma than the other medications Thomas was taking for his breathing problems, Wadler said. The drug is available for human consumption in some South American countries and has been used to increase muscle growth in show animals and athletes.

Wadler said that athletes had used clenbuterol before, most notably during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when two American shot-putters tested positive for the drug and were disqualified. The former pitcher Jason Grimsley told federal prosecutors that he used clenbuterol, human growth hormone, amphetamines and steroids during his Major League Baseball career.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Slavin, one of Thomass agents, said the extreme heat and humidity at the Saints summer training camp at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., made Thomass asthma worse and prompted doctors to recommend new drugs. Thomas was overweight when he arrived at minicamp in June and was still overweight when training camp began at the end of July.

In the appeal to the league, dated Nov. 17, his agents also argued that a suspension would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act because Thomas was treating his chronic, life threatening asthma, in a contract year.

Dr. Amoss, the team doctor and an assistant professor at Louisiana State University, declined an interview request for this article. A team spokesman also would not comment.

More than 60 active players, and about 60 players who retired or were cut before their results were determined, have tested positive since the N.F.L.s testing for performance-enhancing drugs began in 1989. So far this year, at least five players have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

At the Eagles training facility Wednesday, Thomass former teammates said they were surprised and dismayed by the positive test.

I think everyone should hold their judgment until they actually know for sure that he did something wrong, defensive tackle Darwin Walker said. I think hes a good character person. I just hate to see something like that happen. To be honest with you, I should educate myself more about the steroid policy, because I dont know much about it. I dont know much about asthma medications either.

Defensive tackle Sam Rayburn said he talked with Thomas and believed that he had not intentionally used a banned substance.

Almost everything is against the rules in certain quantities, Rayburn said. Even caffeine is considered a performance-enhancer if its in a great enough quantity. You got to be careful. You cant even drink too much Mountain Dew. The easy way to stay out of trouble is not just to take anything.

Clifton Brown contributed reporting from Philadelphia.

Tag Cloud

External Information

Additional Information

Where Am I?