USADA announced today that Brady Ellison, of Miami, Ariz., an athlete in the sport of archery, has tested positive for a prohibited substance, which was determined to have been ingested by him without fault or negligence. As a result, Ellison will not face a period of ineligibility for his positive test.

“If an athlete ingests a prohibited substance from a completely innocent source, such as contaminated medication, meat, or water, and there is no effect on performance, there should not be a violation or a public announcement,” said Travis T. Tygart, Chief Executive Officer of USADA. “We have now had more than 25 of these tragic no-fault cases since 2016, and the injustice keeps happening. On behalf of athletes, USADA will continue to urge WADA to reform the system to be more fair, effective, and efficient.”

Ellison, 32, tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on October 7, 2020. HCTZ is a Specified Substance in the class of Diuretics and Masking Agents and is prohibited at all times under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policy, and the World Archery Federation Anti-Doping Rules, all of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.

During USADA’s investigation into the circumstances of his case, Ellison provided USADA with records of a permitted oral prescription medication that he was taking at the time of his positive test. This permitted medication, which Ellison takes at the direction of a physician, did not list HCTZ or any other prohibited substances on the label. However, detailed laboratory analysis subsequently conducted on multiple tablets of the athlete’s medication confirmed HCTZ contamination at a level consistent with Ellison’s positive test. Ellison will not face a period of ineligibility for his positive test, and because the sample was collected out-of-competition, there are no competitive results to disqualify.

• This media release was published by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on 21 December 2020. Click here for the original.