Of course, all his results are still on the results pages, seeing as they take up a good chunk of it every year.

How convenient that his Dad was (he died earlier this year) a licensed pharmacist.

At least the testing officials gave O'Neill procedural due process: They waited for the B sample to come up positive before releasing the results to the media.

Bravo for following the rules.

I wonder what benefits other than weight loss phentermine would have had (did someone forget to tell O'neill that Elk Grove is pancake flat?) I did read that side effects can include heart valve damage!

Talk about dumb.

It's also interesting to note that in cycling o'neill gets dumped by his team and faces who knows how long of a suspension, while in the NBA, Detroit Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter was suspended for only 10 games without pay by the NBA after testing positive for phentermine in March 2007.

Another one bites the dust.

Guess he won't be at the Criterium in downtown Chicago.

Kind of a catch-22 no... O'Neill has a medical prescription for a drug that his doctors deem necessary for the proper maintenance of homeostasis yet this same drug is considered illegal by the governing body of the sport in which he makes his living.

So his decision falls between taking the drug for his health (I must note that it's assumed that this is a drug he needs or his doctor feels he needs) and potentially sacrificing his career, or not taking the drug because of his career and possibly risking his health...

Further, if merely the drug's presence during competition is illegal then how is he supposed to take the drug ever for we know that all compounds have half lives and depending on the drug test it may pick up trace amounts...

Wasn't Lance allowed the use of EPO as his doctors prescribed it to him? Did O'Neill not have a medical use exemption?

I see this not as a condemnation of O'Neill *yet* in as much as it's a further indication of the tragically flawed of doping controls the cycling world has.

No Catch-22 at all. Get a TUE or get tested positive. Simple as that.

If you want to complain about the TUE process, go ahead (I have no idea what it's like). But that's a separate argument. He doesn't have a TUE + The substance is on the banned list = He's positive. It's that simple.

Phentermine is an upper. I once dated a girl who was put onto the phentermine/fenflouramine combo.

I took her pill one day, felt like very good on the ride. In my judgement, it was performance-enhancing on the day that I took it.

Phentermine does not cause heart valve damage. the other half of the now-passe phen/phen combo did: fenflouramine.

Overall though, this is a shame because this is barely performance-enhancing. This is no oxygen vector drug, this is old-time doping where the rider just gets hyped up. Phentermine to me felt the same as espresso-loading before a ride.

Perhaps my point wasn't clear- there is no black/white with respect to drug use in sport. In fact the majority of cases lie in the liminal area and as such aren't so simply decided.

According to UCI/WADA code, riders can legally use Phentermine out of competition with a prescription. However, there may be no trace amounts of Phentermine in a rider's system during competition.

Here's the problem...

Several elements of this rule need to be more clearly defined:

Competition: does this mean when one is actually on the road racing, or is this for the duration of the season... And if someone takes a month off of racing is that still considered competition.

Trace amounts: what defines this...is it simply the effectiveness of the particular test's (and the associated equipment and technicians) ability to pick up minute residual amounts. It is a zero tolerance rule... How long does the drug last in one's system, how long is the drug effective...

I understand the visceral reaction to jump on the "shoot-from-the-hip" bandwagon and condemn anything that comes close to looking like it may perhaps be related to the indication of a suggestion of drugs, yet this is part of the problem as one cannot un-scream "fire" in a theater.

"Competition" means any race or event where the governing body or regulating agency is able to test the participants.

"Out of competition" is anything outside of a sanctioned event (i.e., anytime other than when you are not racing).

Good clarification, Julian. I still think, however, that if O'Neill wanted to be responsible about his use of it he should have fought to get a TUE for taking it during the season.

If the code says there shall be no "trace amounts" during competition, it is his responsibility first to make sure that's the case for his body. it's written in every UCI contract that the rider is responsible for knowing the code and abiding by it. So it's his responsibility first to address this issue in the code before he is tested positive. There is no word out if he tried to combat this by ever getting a TUE or even consulting anyone about this wording in the code. If he indeed did not try to clarify the wording of the WADA code with anyone before he took the substance during the competitive season, then it is plainly his fault for being negligent.

Arguing that the wording in the code is not sufficient or fair after you signed a contract saying you knew it and would abide by it and after getting tested positive without having done anything to combat the wording in the code—that should not get you off the hook. Maybe he wasn't trying to dope, but that's not the point. He broke the rules, and the rules must be applied fairly to everyone.

I am in Seth's corner on this one. TUE's are easily accessible and can be given relatively easily. In my own experience at this past years Nature Valley Grand Prix's one of the riders on a team I was assisting was treated for a severe asthma attack and got a TUE instantly from the USADA rep that was there after the proper documentation was filled out with the Dr. that was on staff.

My fear is that all of these athletes are given "prescriptions" ... I find that to be questionable...sadly, some athletes need drugs to stay healthy etc...most, in my opinion, are taking complete advantage of "false diagnosis."

Phentermine is a prescription medication indicated for use in the morbidly obese. If a physician prescribed this for Mr. O'Neill, he was using it off-label and incorrectly for purposes other than life-threatening obesity. Obviously. As for cardiac side effects, it can cause or exacerbate arrythmias and cause potentially fatal pulmonary hypertension, and interacts badly with certain other medications. As previously posted, it is thought of as an "upper" and if Mr. O'Neill signed a contract stating he would not take this during competition, he has violated his contract.