England team doctor faces another drugs controversy
ENGLAND football doctor Rob Chakrav er ty faced fresh questions last night after a former elite athletes aid she believed her thyroid medication was mishandled by him while he was working for UK Athletics.
Emma Jackson, fourth in the 800 mat2010’ s Commonwealth Games, believes the levels of thyroxine prescribed for her thyroid problem caused eating disorders, overtraining and stress fractures which ended her top-level career. She has chosen to speak out after watching last Monday’s BBC Panorama programme which showed how banned coach Alberto Salazar encouraged athletes to use thyroxine seemingly as a legal performanceenhancing drug.
It also featured Dr Chakraverty, who was at UK Athletics before joining the FA, focusing on how he infused quadruple Olympic champion Sir Mo Far ah with controversial supplement L-carnitine — but failed to record the levels.
When Jackson sought a second doctor’s opinion on the thyroxine levels prescribed by Chakraverty she says she was told they were ‘ through the roof’ and they were halved.
Chakraverty said: ‘I have had the privilege of working with many world class athletes and I take pride in the care I provide. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the treatment of any particular athlete.’
IT was in 2017 that Ed Warner, then chairman of UK Athletics, noted that Dr Rob Chakraverty’s sloppy documentation of an injection to Sir Mo Farah three years earlier had been logged in his annual appraisal. It looks now to be more of a matter for his permanent record.
Emma Jackson has today made the spotlight on him all the brighter, alleging that she believes Chakraverty mishandled her thyroid medication to the detriment of her career.
Chakraverty responded by emphasising the pride he takes in the care of the ‘many world class athletes’ he has worked with, but added it would be ‘inappropriate for me to comment’. But it is a difficult look for the England football team doctor who has been navigating a reputational storm for the better part of three years.
The first gusts came in 2014, five years after Chakraverty joined UK Athletics. In his upgraded position of chief medical officer, he gave Farah the infusion that triggered a great controversy.
There is nothing illegal about using L-carnitine, an amino acid which is said to boost metabolism and athletic performance . The only restriction is that infusions or injections must be below 50ml every six hours. When Chakraverty was brought before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry to discuss the injection, which took place ahead of the 2014 London Marathon, the committee was told the volume was a compliant 13.5ml. While there is no evidence of wrongdoing, the uncontested and troubling issue is that Chakraverty failed to properly record the injections.
His defence in 2017, once it had come to light via a newspaper, centred on the fact he was in charge of 140 athletes and shortstaffed. He also had a flight the next day. ‘Where we have lapses is when you are on the road,’ he said. ‘It can be forgotten.’
The BBC Panorama documentary showed how the decision to give it to Farah had been discussed in a series of messages between UKA Head of Endurance Barry Fudge, former UKA Performance Director Neil Black and Chakraverty. They deliberated over the question of whether it was in the ‘spirit of sport’ and Chakraverty seemed to have concerns about side effects.
‘It would have been better to have trialled it in someone first,’ he wrote. They ultimately proceeded with injections of a substance that Farah had not used before, and Chakraverty had not administered.
Chakraverty’s statement to Panorama read: ‘I have not contravened any [world antidoping] rules, and have always acted in the best interests of those I treat. ’
None of the L-carnitine saga was public knowledge when hejoined the England football set-up in 2016. The Daily Mail raised questions in November, 2019, about British athletes being screened for thyroid conditions.
Yesterday Dr Chakraverty said: ‘I refute any suggestion that I have been encouraging medical screening or the use of medication for any reason other than protecting athletes’ health.’
There is no evidence that thyroid medications were used by UKA doctors to improve performance. But thyroid medications were a favoured method of Farah’s former coach Alberto Salazar.