When Patriots Linebacker Brandon Spikes said he tested positive for a medication that he wasn’t aware was on the banned substance list, everyone shrugged and just assumed it was an excuse for him trying to cheat the system.
Considering some of his past history, his credibility was a bit suspect.
Information coming out today does confirm Spikes’ story:
Patriots rookie linebacker Brandon Spikes‘ four-game suspension was caused by a positive test for attention deficit disorder medicine, according to Tom Curran of Comcast SportsNet New England.
According to Curran, the ADHD medicine was deemed a “performance enhancer” by the NFL. As Curran also points out, Adderall contains amphetamines that are listed among the league’s banned substances. Adderall is one of the most common treatment drugs for ADHD.
While it doesn’t appear that it was an honest mistake and Spikes didn’t intentionally try to break the rules, he still has to know any medication he is taking needs to be ran by the team doctors.
A lot of people suffer from a form of ADD, so hopefully they get him on the proper medication that doesn’t interfere with the NFL substance abuse policy.