Athletic Commission makes small amendments to drug testing policy

By Brett Okamoto

Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010 | 2:30 p.m.

The Nevada Athletic Commission Tuesday made several small changes to its policy for administering drug tests.

Based on a suggestion made by Las Vegas physician Robert Voy, participants in Nevada-based events will now undergo hemoglobin tests, which can sometimes indicate use of performance enhancing drugs, he said. Voy initially spoke to the commission during a June meeting about testing methods.

Fighters are already required to provide blood samples to the commission, which test for infectious diseases.

While the commission will still rely on urine testing for drug use, they will test participants’ hemoglobin levels during the original blood testing.

“Basically, when you get the testing done on the blood for diseases like HIV and hepatitis, for a few extra bucks you can check for hemoglobin levels,” said Keith Kizer, the commission's executive director.

“It shows the amount of red blood cells in a person’s blood. You can compare that to future tests and if there’s a significant variance that could be proof someone took blood doping.”

In addition to the hemoglobin tests, the commission also made an amendment in regards to its anabolic steroids testing.

Under the previous policy, any participant looking to secure an exemption for therapeutic testosterone, which can be used to treat several diseases, only needed to submit a doctor’s note to the commission legitimizing its use.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the commission voted unanimously in favor of requiring any fighter using therapeutic testosterone be tested for steroids.

“They do grant therapy exemptions if someone has valid, low testosterone levels,” Kizer said. “One of the things they have to do now though, in addition to proving it’s a legitimate medical condition, is do an immediate steroids test.”

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting