Doctor who conducted studies on the drug Halep was diagnosed with: “I rule out the possibility that she used it intentionally”

Dr. Raluca Bobeică, primary nephrologist at the Fundeni Clinical Institute, told News.ro that he participated in clinical studies regarding the drug roxadustat – in which Simona Halep was found to be positive.

The specialist says that in general the drug was well tolerated by those who participated in the study, but that there were adverse reactions such as hypertension and blood viscosity, a factor that can lead to thrombosis.

“In Romania, at the moment, the preparation is not on the market, it is approved by the FDA in Europe and in the USA, in Romania, approximately 3 years ago, I was involved as the main investigator in two of the clinical studies regarding this preparation, I used it on patients, the preparation used versus placebo. It was well tolerated in general, roxadustat is indicated for the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease, so with kidney failure. These patients have anemia, and anemia in Romania today is treated with some injectable preparations derived from erythropoietin, and this, roxadustat, aims to replace injectable erythropoietin with tablets”, said the doctor.

Doctor Raluca Bobeica referred to the adverse reactions encountered in patients.

“The adverse reactions that I encountered in patients were hypertension, either the worsening of hypertension in those who were already hypertensive or the appearance of hypertension in those who were not hypertensive, with a fairly high frequency, possibly associated with the drug, as well as the increase in blood viscosity, which was expressed by thrombosis”, the doctor explained to News.ro.

The medicine will also be approved in our country, says Dr. Raluca Bobeica. However, the doctor expressed his opinion regarding what happened in the case of Simona Halep: he does not believe that Halep used the preparation with good intentions, he excludes this.

“It’s a matter of time, there’s no problem with it not being approved, the medicines arrive with a little delay, there’s no problem with it not being approved. I don’t start from the premise that Simona used that preparation with good intentions , I don’t agree with the speculations. First of all, my personal opinion is that she personally has nothing to do with this, I don’t know, maybe the substance got to her accidentally, I rule out the possibility that she used it on purpose,” said the doctor.

Adverse effects of roxadustat: hypertension and increased blood viscosity. If someone were to take the drug, it would have several disadvantages, the doctor says
“It seems quite strange to me, because, in my view, if someone, someone else, not Simona, would use it with good intentions, I think it would have more disadvantages than advantages. In the sense that it increases the tension and that can it even harms sports, it increases blood viscosity and then I think more fatigue can occur, I don’t know why it’s on the list of banned substances, maybe because it corrects hemoglobin, so we have more hemoglobin, more blood if we use this substance and that’s probably why it was considered doping”, explained the doctor.

The doctor says that he does not share the opinion that the medicine would increase physical resistance.

“I have not noticed such an effect in patients, it is not a very visible effect, I don’t know how to say more. I used it strictly medically, for the treatment of anemia in patients with chronic renal failure. My personal opinion is that it does not have Simona nothing to do with this substance, certainly, from my point of view, she did not use it voluntarily,” Dr. Raluca Bobeica, primary nephrologist at the Fundeni Clinical Institute, told News.ro.