Bulgarian drug firm apologises over bans

A Bulgarian pharmaceutical company apologised on Monday for its inadvertent role in the disqualification of Bulgarian weightlifters at the Sydney Olympics.

Three weightlifters were stripped of their medals after testing positive for a diuretic during the Games.

Bulgaria's pharmaceutical watchdog said earlier on Monday it had found traces of the banned diuretic furosemide in Orocetam, a medication made by the company Sopharma.

Bulgaria's weightlifting coach Ivan Abadzhiev resigned after saying he had given the athletes Orocetam, unaware that one of the components was furosemide.

BTA news agency quoted Sopharma as saying it regretted the disqualification but added that it should not be blamed for tiny amounts of furosemide in the drug which is not regularly used by athletes.

Orocetam is intended for use in helping brain rehabilitation during and after illness. It is designed to improve the flow of blood in the brain and enhance mental concentration.

"Sopharma unconditionally accepts the results and conclusions made by (Bulgaria's) pharmaceutical watchdog," the firm told BTA news agency.

Borislav Borisov, executive director of the Pharmaceuticals Agency, told a news conference that manufacturers in Bulgaria were not required to list a component which made up less than 0.1 per cent of a drug. In this case, the trace of the substance was some 0.003 per cent or less.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) initially banned Bulgaria's entire weightlifting team from the Games. But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the IWF lacked a legal basis to ban the whole team.

The CAS ruling allowed one Bulgarian weightlifter to win a silver medal after the ban was lifted.

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