So this is awesome news.

I find it interesting that Braun was more concerned with the chain of custody than the actual results of the test.

A faulty chain poisons any results that come after it. At least Milwaukee has plenty of beer to celebrate with!

The Braun decision was based on HOW the sample was corrupted. Panel was shown exactly what happened, why result was invalid.

So, Braun’s representatives were able to replicate a false positive test? Well, if you show it’s possible that the test could be false and show exactly how, then no wonder the arbitrator agreed.

I’ll just post it here and leave so I don’t get banned for saying something fantastically inappropriate to all those who think Braun skated by.

is that even though Braun’s team showed how the delay’s could cause inaccurate results, this does scream of a technicality. It is akin to a criminal getting off because police collected evidence without a search warrant, or they didn’t read a criminal his Miranda rights prior to arresting him, or entrapment. Those cases don’t change the fact that the person in question did something wrong, but because procedures weren’t followed they are free to get away with it.

I am not saying this is the case with Braun. I understand the potential for inaccurate tests in a lab based on contaminated or improperly handled samples.

However, because of the state of reporting today (the need to be the first to “break” the news which leads to only partial stories being reported) people go with the first thing they read and that is their stance from that point forward (the whole first impression thing). The first reports stated that he was found innocent based on a broken chain of custody, there was no mention of how his defense team showed that this delay could lead to inaccurate tests, so at first read that looks like a technicality to the masses instead of a viable cause for concern about the validity of the test. Hell there were even initial reports stating that he was found guilty by the arbitration board.

To the casual (and even not so casual) sports fan they are not going to spend a couple hours for the rest of the story to come out, they are going to see the main story and that has set their opinion.

Confirmation bias is bad.

this whole thing, from Braun to MLB, to the fans themselves…has become one giant debacle. We’ll be doing ourselves a great favor to all keep quiet for a bit look for consistency in the reports before we start talking more. There is too fine of a line right now between reports to call anything any of us are saying “facts.”

Reading some comments here – please tell me you are never called for jury duty….

Think MLB will next go after Braun for tax evasion?

is Braun actually taking the position that he did not use a substance that resulted in the riduculously positive test? I have very few brain cells left, at my advanced age, but I cannot recall seeing this kind of statement from him.
If not, his sanctimonious posture about having his name dragged through the mud rings pretty hollow to me.

If needing to hold samples for a few days before shipping (assuming it is within the holding time of the test – some of the testing I deal with has holding times anywhere from 30 hours to 14 days) there is an easy way to get around it.

Any collector who collects on weekends needs a refrigerator in his home or a workplace with a secure lock on it and a key that only he has access to. It also should be equipped with a certified accurate thermometer (temperature loggers are even better, especially if they wirelessly record the data and send to a computer). That way if a sample cannot be shipped right away, he can lock it away secure from interference and can verify that no one else had contact with it, and if there is any question of storage conditions he can present the data showing the temperature was within 1 – 4 C the entire time it was in the secure refrigerator (or whatever the temperature storage requirements are).

If the MLB is going to do this thing, they need to have someone trained in laboratory data quality assessment and quality control go through their procedures with a fine-tooth comb and put everything in proper order.

(I am assuming the labs where the samples are actually tested are properly audited and regularly inspected, and the methods used are tested for false positive and false negative results instead of just assuming they are okay. Might be a stretch, but I know medical labs are audited regularly. Not as likely with purely analytical labs, though.)

As to if the testing done has ever really been verified rigorously because normal human testosterone levels vary so much from one man to the next – even during the time of day it varies. It seems crazy to think, but for example a lot of forensic testing has never been adequately verified that way. DNA testing has, but that is because it was developed thoroughly in research labs first, and only after all the permutations were explored and interferences hunted down was it released to the wild. Commonly used things like ballistics are based largely on assumptions, some of which haven’t been tested as rigorously.

Interesting stuff. (To a lab rat nerd, anyway.)