'Money is first': Why some team doctors may be harming pro athletes

It's no secret that professional sports is big business, but the pressures put on some team doctors to nurse high-priced star players back to health is leading to the over-prescription of drugs and ultimately harming the athletes in the long run, an investigation by the fifth estate reveals.

“I think it’s pretty clear to me, and in talking to people who have been team doctors, that ethically [doctors] want to say, 'We’re there for the player and health is first,' but that’s not the reality of pro sports," says Arthur Caplan, a professor at the Sports and Society Program at New York University.

"The reality of pro sports is winning is first, because money is first.”

Money has always been important to multibillion-dollar sports corporations, and many companies pay big sums to associate their products with certain leagues or teams.

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/pro-sports-doctors-may-be-over-prescribing-drugs-to-players-1.2991961?cmp=rss