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The Line Between Boost and Ban

Bruce N. Cronstein, MD  |  Issue: April 2008  |  

Unlike Muhammed Ali, Floyd Landis overcame a significant rheumatologic problem—avascular necrosis of the hip (secondary to a fracture)—to win the Tour de France, a grueling three-week bicycle race. That all of the opiates that must have been required to keep him on his bicycle did not mask the presence of androgenic steroids in his urine is a tribute to modern technology, which has been both a boon and a bane to athletics.

Dr. Cronstein is Paul R. Esserman professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine in New York.

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Reference

  1. Vecsey G. At 39, Ali Has More Points to Prove. New York Times. Nov. 29, 1981.

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