Just because you have a spinal cord injury does not mean that you are incapable of cheating when it comes to sports and athletic events.

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports has recently started to screen for the use of steroids and blood enhancers in paralympians blogs the National Post.  Not only are drugs used to help those living with paralysis perform better in their events, but sometimes wrecking medical devices or intentionally breaking bones is a technique used, odd as it may sound.

This is a hard thing for our San Diego paralysis attorneys to wrap their heads around.  After being diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, most disabled athletes (and non-athletes) do everything to improve their bodies, not hurt them further.

Paraplegic athletes have been known to back up their bladders by plugging their urinary catheters, breaking a toe, or applying pressure stockings to their lower body, feeling none of the pain.  Some male athletes sit on ball bearings to compress their testicles.

“They are at disadvantage, to have at resting state a low blood pressure … this is one of the horrific results of spinal cord injury…People with spinal cord injury will do something more outrageous — they want to feel better and they want to perform better.  They’re using this abnormal response to increase blood pressure,” said  one physician-scientist.

Officials from the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports are investigating close to 50 paralympians with spinal cord injuries to see if they “boosted” their blood pressure, known as autonomic dysreflexia.  This spike in blood pressure can up a performance during a competition by 15%, but can also lean to a fatal stroke or heart attack, which is why is was banned in world sport bodies in 1994.

During the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, doping and boosting cases were reportedly low, as they have been in past Paralympics.  That said, the potential still exists for athletes with spinal cord injuries to use these methods of cheating, which is concerning for our San Diego paralysis lawyers since it also puts them in a dangerous position.  Instead of improving their outlook for recovery and making them healthier, it puts their athletic careers and lives in jeopardy.

If you or a loved one have been involved in an accident and suffered a spinal cord injury or paralysis, we urge you to contact our bilingual offices as soon as possible following the accident at 1-858-551-2090 or please click here for a FREE consultation with an experienced paralysis lawyer in San Diego.  We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you owe us nothing until we recover money on your behalf.