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11/02/09 - Exclusive: Karo drug cocktail "unusual" says UFC UK doctor
It is unusual for somebody to mix the three drugs found in the sample provided by Karo Parisyan this week, according to the UFC’s UK ringside physician.
Speaking to Fighters Only earlier, Dr. Chris Lam (pictured) explained that the three drugs - Hydrocodone, Oxymorphone, and Hydromorphone - are all opiates, which are “probably the most powerful pain killer which are routinely used in medicine, normally being reserved for severe pain such as cancer pain”.
“In the UK at least, it would be very unusual for a doctor to prescribe opiates of the sort found in his test for muscular injuries such as hamstring injuries,” he said, referring to Parisyan’s claim that he took the drugs because of hamstring pain.
“It is also unusual to be given a cocktail of opiates as was found in his urine sample.”
Parisyan is the latest in a line of mixed martial artists that have tested positive for opiates and prescribed painkillers.
Light-heavyweight James Irvin recently tested positive for Oxymorphone, one of the drugs that Parisyan used, and said he had taken it to combat the pain of chronic long-term injuries.
Another high-profile victim of opiates was Mark Kerr, who was a huge star in the early days of MMA before long-term opiate addiction led to an overdose which derailed his career.
Dr Lam observed that Kerr‘s experiences are not unique among people using opiates and morphine-derived painkillers.
“One of the main concerns with prescribing opiates is that they potentially can be addictive and habit forming especially if prescribed inappropriately,” he said.
Dr Lam is a British physician who is used by both the British Board of Boxing Control and the UFC as a ringside doctor for events in the UK and Ireland, where he has tended to the likes of Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filopovic, Mark Coleman and Matt Hughes.
John Joe O’Regan
John.fightersonly@gmail.com
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