by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
South Korean prosecutors announced on Friday that a doctor who allegedly injected a banned substance into Olympic swimmer Park Tae-hwan was indicted on charges of professional negligence, reports Yonhap News Agency.
The indictment comes after Park, a four-time Olympic medalist and one of South Korea’s most decorated athletes, tested positive for testosterone in a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) test in September, ahead of the Asian Games. Park claims that he had asked the doctor, identified only by his surname Kim, if the injection contained any banned substances. Kim, however, failed to fully disclose the name, ingredients, risks or side effects of the shot he administered in July.
After news of Park’s failed doping test broke last month, the swimmer and his management agency filed a formal complaint to the private clinic where the swimmer received the injection, leading to a prosecutorial probe.
Although prosecutors believe that Kim might not have been aware that testosterone was a banned substance, they claim that the doctor had “the professional obligation to confirm the contents and risks of all drugs prescribed to patients,” citing precedents in South Korea and Japan. They also said that modification of Park’s hormone levels via injection constituted “bodily harm.”
Park received at least one dose of Nebido as part of an anti-aging procedure back in July, according to the Chosun Ilbo. The Korean newspaper also reported that the swimmer submitted a tape recording of the conversations he had with Kim.
Even if Kim is found guilty of professional negligence, Park may still face suspension for the failed doping test. Under WADA’s World Anti-Doping Code, Article 10, athletes do not have to face sanctions if they prove that they bear no fault or negligence in their positive drug tests. However, the one exception to this rule is when a personal physician or trainer administers a prohibited substance without disclosure to the athlete.
The code also emphasizes that “athletes are responsible for their choice of medical personnel and for advising medical personnel that they cannot be given any prohibited substance.”
If Park is suspended, then he will be stripped of all the medals he won at last year’s Incheon Asian Games, which took place after samples were collected for the drug test. The swimmer will also become ineligible to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as the Korean Olympic Committee stipulates that any athlete suspended for positive drug test results may not be part of a national team for three years, starting on the day the suspension ends.
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Featured image via Koogle.tv
