Olympic Sponsor Tests Its Supplements for Banned Substances

Olympic Sponsor Tests Its Supplements for Banned Substances

PROVO, Utah--Pharmanex, a subsidiary of NuSkin Enterprises, reported in December that 14 of its sports products contain nosubstances that were prohibited by governing national bodies--in particular, theU.S. Olympic Committee (USOC). The company is an official sponsor of the 2002and 2004 Olympic Games.

Pharmanex has taken this unprecedented step as part of our commitment tothe international sports community, to provide accurate information andassistance to athletes, trainers and officials on dietary supplements,reported Joe Chang, Ph.D., president of Pharmanex (www.pharmanex.com).It is important for our industry to do whatever necessary to reassureathletes that they can take supplements without fear of jeopardizing theircareers. I hope other supplement companies will follow our example and commit toidentifying standards for their products.

National Medical Services, an independent lab, tested products such asCreatine Blast, MuscleFix and OverDrive for six classes of prohibited substancesand their precursors, including anabolic steroids, diuretics, narcotics,stimulants, beta-blockers and peptide hormones. However, director of the U.S.Anti-Doping Agency Terry Madden told The Salt Lake Tribunethat the agency still does not recommend any athlete take supplements and putthemselves at risk for possible repercussions. I look forward to the day whenI can tell athletes what supplements are clean, but until there is some type ofbetter regulation, in order to protect athletes, we have to take the stance thatathletes should not take any of these products, he said.

Pharmanex will also be putting these products, in addition to others, througha series of clinical tests coordinated with the U.S. Ski and SnowboardAssociation, of which the company is a sponsor.