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 Chapter[ X. Review of the Major League Baseball Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program                                                                                                                            ]

 Section[ B. 1. Independence ]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

1. Independence

Major League Baseball’s joint program was revised in 2006 to create the position

of independent program administrator. This reform was a significant positive step, but the

program still falls short of true independence.

Before the 2006 revisions, a committee composed of two representatives each

from the Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association, including one physician appointed

by each party, was responsible for overseeing and administering the joint program. At all

relevant times, the members of this Health Policy Advisory Committee (“HPAC”) were Rob

Manfred and Dr. Larry Westreich on behalf of the Commissioner’s Office, and Gene Orza and

Dr. Joel Solomon on behalf of the Players Association.521 The drug testing programs in other

professional sports leagues, including the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL, also are jointly

controlled by the leagues and their respective players associations.

Under the 2006 revisions, certain HPAC responsibilities were delegated to a

newly created position of program administrator, including overseeing testing, collection, and

521 A fifth member can be appointed by these four members in the event that they are

unable to reach a majority decision. The four-member HPAC always has reached agreement,

however, and a fifth member never has been appointed.

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analysis procedures, and program operational review. In April 2006, Dr. Bryan Wesley Smith,

a physician trained in sports medicine who also serves as consultant to the Atlantic Coast

Conference, was appointed as the program administrator.

The program administrator may be removed by the Commissioner’s Office or the

Players Association, or either of them, at any time for any reason.522 In addition, the

Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association have retained exclusive authority over the

most important aspects of the joint program, including: (1) the number of tests administered

(both in-season and during the off-season); (2) the determination of what substances are

prohibited; (3) the selection and retention of the entities responsible for the collection and testing

of the samples; (4) determinations to order “reasonable cause” testing; and (5) investigating and

determining whether a test is considered positive under the joint program.523

The Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association also retain control over

some aspects of the collection process. In those areas in which he does not completely control

the collection process, however, Dr. Smith, the independent program administrator, advised us

that he can make recommendations to improve the joint program and that none of the several

recommendations that he has made has been rejected by the Commissioner’s Office and the

Players Association.

522 Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program § 1(B)(1)

(2006).

523 See generally Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program

(2006). A test that is labeled positive by the testing laboratory might still be considered not to be

positive under the joint program for a number of reasons, among them therapeutic use

exemptions, chain of custody issues, allegations that a positive test was the result of adulterated

supplements, and variations between A and B samples.

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