Diuretics - The Law

The Law

Diuretics are not controlled substances. Federal law does not regulate their possession and use. Some diuretic drugs are even available without a prescription. For those that do require a doctor's prescription, several rules apply to their use. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the regulation of non-controlled drugs such as diuretics. Illegally selling or distributing prescription diuretics is against the law.

Professional athletes who test positive for diuretics in Olympic competition are suspended from participation in the games. They may also be stripped of any medals they have won. At the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 2004, Sanamachu Chanu of India was disqualified from competition after she tested positive for a banned diuretic. Her fourth-place finish in the weightlifting competition was tossed out.

Another incident occurred at the 2000 Olympics, when three Bulgarian weightlifters tested positive for the diuretic furosemide. The athletes involved were Izabela Dragneva, winner of the gold medal; Ivan Ivanov, winner of the silver medal; and Sevdalin Minchev, winner of the bronze medal. The International Olympic Committee took back the athletes' medals after they failed their mandatory drug tests. Alan Tsagaev, another Bulgarian weightlifter whose drug test was clean, went on to win the silver in his weight class. The coach of the Bulgarian team later took responsibility for the disqualification of his players. He claimed that he did not realize furosemide was one of the ingredients in a Bulgarian medicine named Orotsetam, which he had distributed to his team.

Sanamacha Chanu of India tested positive for a banned diuretic at the Olympic Games in 2004. She was disqualified from the competition. AP/Wide World Photos.
Sanamacha Chanu of India tested positive for a banned diuretic at the Olympic Games in 2004. She was disqualified from the competition. AP/Wide World Photos.

Diuretics appear on the World Anti-Doping Agency's "2005 Prohibited List" of drugs. Since 2000, the United States has stepped up its own investigation of performance-enhancing drugs in sports by forming the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The agency's main goal is "to provide clean athletes with a level playing field." According to the USADA's 2004 Testing and Results Management Numbers, the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide was one of nearly twenty "adverse findings" connected with doping violations for the year.