Originally Posted by socalkev

Here is part of the statement from her lawyer. It seems that the EKG tests, etc., could be submitted for independent medical review and if this drug was prescribed for a legitimate medical purpose, and was effective, there should be some leniency involved, especially since it was just banned. Seems to me that when a previously allowed drug is banned, the athletes who were taking it should be notified AND be required to respond that they are aware of the change.

"I want people to know that for 10 years Maria took this substance, which was recommended to her by her doctor after he did an extensive battery of tests to determine what medical conditions were causing her to be sick on a frequent basis. He found that she had abnormal EKG readings, that she had some diabetes indicators and when he coupled that with a family medical history of those issues, as well as low magnesium and some immune deficiencies, it was his job as her doctor to prescribe or recommend the medication that would help her be healthy.

As it turned out, this was one of them. He checked them all and they were all not on the ban list and she was able to take them. These medications helped her. They brought her back to baseline, they eliminated or reduced some of the medical conditions she was dealing with. So with 10 years she proceeded on and legally and properly took this medication to keep these low-established medical conditions under control. Regrettably, when they added this to the ban list on January 1 of this year, she did not pick that up. So for 25 days out her long career she was not in compliance with the WADA requirements for banned substances."