if an NFL player is diagnosed with hypertension, diuretics are considered first line medications by the Joint National Committee on Hypertension. Does the NFL have a list of medications that are
allowed to be used to treat hypertension ?? Are they in accord
with JNC recommendations ? Where can I obtain the list of approved medications for treating hypertension in the NFL ???
The dope on diuretics
Eagles defensive back Joselio Hanson might not have known the pill he ingested to combat bloating contained a diuretic, but he, like every other NFL player, knew diuretics are as damning a substance as any.
Diuretics can be used as a masking agent for steroids by diluting the urine used to test for steroid use.
Hanson, through attorney David Cornwell, issued a statement in which he claimed he ate Chinese food before the NFC Championship Game last season, felt bloated and took a pill, then tested positive for a diuretic after the game. Yesterday, Hanson began serving a four-game suspension for the positive test.
It's not as if diuretics are an unknown evil in the world of sports.
Since just before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, world-class gymnasts, swimmers and even an Italian fencer have tested positive for diuretics and faced penalties. So did Titans defensive lineman Kevin Vickerson last season, according to his agent; Vickerson was suspended for four games.
Notably, a weight-loss supplement called StarCaps allegedly contained enough of a banned diuretic to produce positive tests in several players in 2008. Two Minnesota Vikings players had their suspensions stayed due to labor-law issues in that state until a trial is held to determine the validity of the suspension process (other related suspensions also have been stayed).
Because of the ramifications of the labor-law challenge - athletes in the NFL and other sports in states with similar laws also might be exempt - a congressional committee, which most recently made hay over baseball's muddled steroid- testing policies, this month told commissioner Roger Goodell that Congress might consider legislation to standardize testing procedures throughout the states in which the leagues conduct business.
