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Swimmer Park Tae-hwan’s doctor indicted for negligence

February 5, 2015

(Yonhap TV screen capture)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — A doctor who allegedly injected a banned substance into South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan was indicted Friday on charges of professional negligence, prosecutors said.

The move comes after Park, a four-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champ, tested positive for testosterone in a recent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) test. Park claimed the doctor had given him an injection without fully disclosing that it could contain a banned substance.

The doctor, identified only by his surname Kim, administered the injection “Nebido” containing testosterone last July without fully disclosing the risks and side effects to the swimmer, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said, announcing the interim outcome of its probe.

Park had distinctly asked the doctor if the injection contained any banned substances, prosecutors said, adding the doctor did not disclose the name, ingredients or side effects of the shot given.

Prosecutors believe the doctor, who heads a private clinic in Seoul, also wasn’t aware that testosterone was a banned substance.

Citing precedents in South Korea and Japan, however, prosecutors said Kim had the professional obligation to confirm the contents and risks of all drugs prescribed to patients.

Prosecutors also said that altering Park’s hormone levels by a form of doping constituted bodily harm.

They referred to a German precedent in which a doctor who prescribed oral testosterone disguised as vitamins to swimmers was found guilty of the crime.

Park became the first South Korean to win an Olympic swimming gold when he took the men’s 400-meter freestyle race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He later added a silver in the 200ｍ freestyle.

He grabbed two silver medals at the 2012 London Olympics in the 200ｍ and the 400ｍ freestyle events, and has also won two world championships in the 400ｍ freestyle.

He submitted two urine samples to FINA on Sept. 3, as he was training for the Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheon, which opened later the same month. Both of his A and B samples came out positive.

FINA, the international governing body of swimming, has set a hearing for Park on Feb. 27 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

One of South Korea’s most visible athletes, Park may still face suspension for the positive results, separate from any legal responsibility to be shouldered by the doctor.

In WADA’s World Anti-Doping Code, Article 10, titled “Sanctions on Individuals,” states that if an athlete can establish that he or she bears no fault or is negligent, the athlete may not face sanctions. However, one exception cited by the same code is “the administration of a prohibited substance by the athlete’s personal physician or trainer without disclosure to the athlete.”

The code also points out, “Athletes are responsible for their choice of medical personnel and for advising medical personnel that they cannot be given any prohibited substance.”

Should Park be suspended, the suspension would begin retroactively on Sept. 3, the day FINA, the international swimming governing body, collected Park’s samples.

Park would also be stripped of one silver and five bronze medals he captured at last year’s Incheon Asian Games, which took place after the samples were collected for testing.

Competing at an arena named after himself, Park won three bronze medals in relay events, and his teammates in those races would also lose their medals if Park is suspended.

Starting this year, the WADA will ban first-time offenders for four years, up from two years, but since Park tested positive last year, the toughened rule won’t apply to him retroactively.

With a suspension of any length, Park will be ineligible to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro under the rules by the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC). The KOC stipulates that an athlete who has been suspended for a positive drug test may not be named to a national team for three years, starting on the day that the suspension ends. The 2016 Olympics will begin on Aug. 5.