Education is one of the core components of USADA’s anti-doping program and we work to provide athletes with the resources they need to compete clean.
There are times in an athlete’s career where they might have a legitimate medical need to take a medication and USADA has several resources available to assist athletes in determining if their medication is prohibited or not. The primary resources are the Wallet Card, Drug Reference Line, and GlobalDRO.com.
Global DRO is a medication database that provides information about the prohibited status of specific drugs/substances based on the current World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
The easy-to-use website is a partnership between USADA, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES), and UK Anti-Doping (UKAD). The Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) is also an official Global DRO licensee. Thus, visitors can search for specific information on products sold in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
It is important to know that Global DRO does not contain information on, or that applies to, any dietary supplement which also includes homeopathic products, traditional medicines, herbals, and probiotics.
Do not use Global DRO to search for the individual ingredients in a dietary supplement. The dietary supplement may contain prohibited substances even if your search results say the ingredients on the label are not prohibited. The use of any dietary supplement is at your own risk.
To find the status of a medication in sport, follow these easy steps:
1. Go to GlobalDRO.com, choose your sport nationality, select ‘Go’, then ‘Drug Search’ on the following page.
2. Read the Terms and Conditions, check the box saying you understand, and select ‘Search for Medications’.
3. Select your user type, sport, nation of purchase, then enter the brand name (e.g., Tylenol), ingredient (acetaminophen), or Drug Identification Number (DIN) of the medication you wish to find the status of.
4. Find the result that matches the medication you wish to take and select ‘View Status’
You will be taken to a Brand Status page that will show whether or not the medication or ingredient is prohibited in-competition, out-of-competition, or both, which will be displayed similarly to the examples below:
There are no restrictions on the use of this drug in sport.
This ingredient or brand is prohibited in certain circumstances. Read the “Additional Information” at the bottom of the search results page carefully to understand the conditions under which this ingredient is prohibited and not prohibited.
This ingredient or brand is included on the WADA Prohibited List. Athletes who have been diagnosed with a medical condition that requires the use of a prohibited substance may apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) to request permission for the use of the prohibited substance.
Remember, in-competition refers to the period commencing twelve hours before a competition in which the athlete is scheduled to participate through the end of the competition and the sample collection process related to the competition. Out-of-competition refers to any period which is not in-competition.
If a particular medication cannot be found on Global DRO, the user can call in to USADA’s Drug Reference Line at 719-785-2000 (press option 2). USADA’s Drug Reference Line provides a personal resource to understanding prohibited substances based on the WADA Prohibited List. An expert is available to answer questions about the status of a substance; therapeutic use exemptions (TUE); and how that process can be started or carried out. The resource is available Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. MT.
Athletes are encouraged to save the Reference Number for their search (found at the top of the Brand Status page).
Global DRO is updated regularly and all data is fully verified by pharmacists with experience in the field of anti-doping. Every effort is made to add new medications that emerge on the market in a timely manner.