World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) considers banning Viagra for Athletes.
I wonder what athletes with Erectile Deficiency (ED) should do. They can not take Viagra to enhance their sex life any more?
Wada believes sildenafil (Viagra) enhances athletic performance, particularly in high-pollution locations such as Beijing and London.
[ . . . ]
As well as boosting the blood supply to muscles – helpful in sprinting – the drug may also enhance endurance, especially when competitors are breathing in polluted conditions or at high altitudes.
Victor Conte, who ran the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (Balco) and supplied banned substances to top competitors such as sprinters Marion Jones and Dwain Chambers, has claimed of Viagra: “All my athletes took it. It’s bigger than creatine [a legal muscle-building supplement]“.
Cited from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/7469509.stm
Well, to be realistic, athletes are usually young and healthy enough not to have erectile deficiencies which would require them to take Viagra. Also, Viagra seems to enhance athletic perfomance only when taken during competition, so taking Viagra 3 nights before the competition should not be prohibited.
Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate) is patented by Pfizer. India produces a generic Version of Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate), against Pfizer’s protest. This is an example for the delicate balance between protecting intellectual rights and allowing poor people access to important medicine.
