A Latvian scientist who created the controversial drug meldonium says Maria Sharapova shouldn't be punished for using the drug.
Ivars Kalvins denies that meldonium is a performance-enhancing drug, according to Forbes. The World Anti-Doping Agency put meldonium on its list of banned substances in January of 2016, but the drug's inventor denied that it should be banned.
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"I will demonstrate that WADA is wrong," Kalvins told Forbes last week by phone from Riga. "I will protect against these attacks from WADA."
"This is like insurance," he said, telling Forbes "that the drug ensures that the heart gets enough oxygen, even when pushed to the limits of its capacity, as in elite-level sports.
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"Athletes have to work very, very close to this border of the physical capacity of the human body," Kalvins said. "If they cross this border, there is no way back. Their hearts are damaged, their muscles are damaged, etc."
The drug's inventor warned that banning the substance could increase the risk of sudden deaths of athletes whose hearts cannot get enough oxygen, which would cause permanent tissue damage.
"Who will take the responsibility for lost lives, I do not know," Kalvins said.
Kavins' comments at least pave the way for more of a possibility that Sharapova's plea of ignorance about the drug is plausible.
"His and WADA's conflict over whether meldonium boosts athletic performance seems to rest on their different interpretations of 'improves physical capacity,'" Forbes added. "Kalvins says the drug doesn't enable athletes to push themselves further, but it helps their hearts recover when they do so. WADA, on the other hand, 'determined that meldonium was being used by athletes with the intent of enhancing performance,'" spokesman Ben Nichols relayed to Forbes via email.
Nichols added that athletics are granted a "therapeutic use exemption" if they have to take a drug for a medical reason as long as that use meets a set of conditions.
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