Amgen faces $780 million fines for illegally promoting blood booster

[Dazzricles]

Amgen, sponsor of the Tour Of California and makers of EPO, which is rather like having a cigarette maker sponsor a cancer ward, are, like most drug companies rather up to there neck in bad practices. This jumped out at me from the link..and to my mind suggests good reason to believe the web of corruption surrounding EPO use go,s all the way to Pat and Hein who I believe knew all about Thom Weisel. Would not be surprised in the least that some kind of financial links exist.

"The company spent years trying to clone the gene. In late 1983, Amgen raised $40 million in an initial public offering underwritten by Smith Barney, Dean Witter and Montgomery Securities, founded by amateur cyclist Thom Weisel, who also financed the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team led by Armstrong."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/...po-makers-feud

[paul540]

Ouch, that might sting the wallets a bit

[mikey g]

I always thought it a bit strange that an EPO maker could sponsor any sport, not just cycling

[fat_man_in_lycra]

Is EPO used for anything other than doping in sport?

[fizban]

Yes there are medical uses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoetin_alfa

[fat_man_in_lycra]

So it does have a medical use although quite controversial. Nonetheless I think it would have been/would be prudent for the UCI to reject further sponsorship by this company and similar ones. ( Remember the drug company will argue that it is not their drug that is the problem but the people that misuse it! )

[BeSpoke]

That's just like a gun manufacturer saying that guns don't kill people, people kill people. Fact is that in societies where guns are freely availlable, the murderer's weapon of choice is a gun....
In cycling, the weapon of choice is EPO. Although I can see why a drug manufacturer or healthcare provider would want to be acssociated with sport from an image point of view, Amgen would seem to be a contraversial choice of sponsor for the tour of California.
Having said that no-one seems to object to medical equipment and healthcare provider, United Healthcare's involvement in the sport.

[fat_man_in_lycra]

That's just like a gun manufacturer saying that guns don't kill people, people kill people.

That is exactly what they say! And the NRA of America - has been their argument after every massacre in the states.

Sponsorship has always been a minefield for sport, both legally and morally, but I think the UCI could have given this a little more thought!