18 novembre 2003
Jeff Jones
At a press conference in Montreal on Monday, Canadian cyclist Genevi�ve Jeanson defended herself against accusations that she took performance enhancing drugs. "I've never touched EPO in my life," Jeanson said. "I've never seen it, I've never been given any and I've never taken any. Never."
Jeanson called the press conference in the wake of the Dr. Maurice Duquette affair, the Quebecois doctor who last week pleaded guilty to a number of charges brought against him by the Coll�ge des m�decins du Qu�bec (Quebec College of Physicians), many of them dealing with the improper administration of EPO. Dr. Duquette admitted - then denied - giving EPO to an "international level Quebec cyclist and coach" who are now known to be Genevi�ve Jeanson and her coach Andr� Aubut. The publication ban forbidding naming the cyclist was lifted at the request of Jeanson herself, on the condition that she keep the confidentiality of her medical files.
Jeanson was named in Dr. Duquette's files as follows: having "neglected to write into the medical file of Ms. Genevi�ve Jeanson... medications that were administered to her, notably Marcaine [a local anaesthetic] and Eprex [Ed: EPO] that had been re-administered as a diagnostic test, in contravention of the R�glement sur la tenue des dossiers d'un m�decin (regulation on keeping medical files)."
The day after the plea, Dr. Duquette sent a letter to Jeanson�s lawyer where he wrote that he had, "never prescribed or given Eprex to Genevi�ve Jeanson... I pleaded guilty for injecting Marcaine along one tendon during one exercise routine and then omitting to write this in her file at the office."
Jeanson has strongly denied ever receiving or using EPO either from Dr. Duquette or any other source, and has been frustrated that she has so far not been allowed to explain her situation to anyone. Jeanson's lawyer Alain Barrette said that his client had tried in vain for nearly a year to tell her version of the story to the Comit� de discipline du Coll�ge des m�decins (Disciplinary Committee of the Quebec College of Physicians), but her Motion for Intervention was rejected by the Committee.
Dr. Duquette's guilty plea means that Jeanson still cannot explain herself to the Coll�ge des m�decins tribunal, and she wants to appear before sport's governing bodies, especially the Canadian Cycling Association, to clear up the situation.
"It's been months since I've wanted to talk about this," she said. "Because I was not able to with the Coll�ge des m�decins, I want to have the chance with the sport's governing bodies."
The publicity surrounding the Duquette case is the second time in as many months that Jeanson has found herself surrounded by controversy. She was unable to race at the world championships last month after a routine haematocrit test found her to be over the permitted red blood cell level. Jeanson subsequently tested negative for EPO and claimed her elevated haematocrit was caused by use of a hypoxic tent in training.
page mise en ligne le 18 novembre 2003 par SVP
