Global Drug Reference Online
The Global Drug Reference Online (Global DRO) provides athletes and support personnel with information about the prohibited status of specific medications based on the current World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List. Global DRO does not contain information on, or that applies to, any dietary supplements.
The new, updated and readily accessible website for Global DRO is found here:
The Global DRO allows users to search for specific information on products sold in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Japan and Australia. The Global DRO provides the same critical information to athletes and support personnel about the prohibited status of specific substances under the rules of sport, based on the current World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List. Various ingredients and brands, and more specifically whether they are classified as “Prohibited”, “Not Prohibited”, or “Conditional”.
It is increasingly common for high level and elite athletes to attend emergency departments for management of medical complaints. We are often unaware of the complexity of drug administration in such athletes and blind to the implications of inpatient treatment and outpatient prescribing. Although many of these athletes have a sports physician caring for them in the community – many do not.
Recently one of the athletes I look after attended emergency for management of cellulitis and was discharged with a script for probenecid. A quick search of the Global DRO confirmed this agent to be a prohibited substance for the athlete liable to a 2 year ban without an appropriate therapeutic drug exemption (TUE).
Having a readily accessible, updated database for country of origin medications makes it much easier for athletes and medical professionals to ensure compliance with the WADA code of conduct pertaining to medication administration and ingestion.
The Global DRO directory is updated regularly to include new products entering the marketplace, or to adjust for changes in the Prohibited List status. All data is fully verified by pharmacists experienced in the field of anti-doping.
The data sources for the Global DRO include:
- UK Anti-Doping (UKAD): Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference
- Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES): © Canadian Drug Product Database, Health Canada.
- United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA): Gold Standard Media, publisher of Clinical Pharmacology.
- Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA): MIMS Australia
