@Zemgirl "allegedly contributed" and "may have caused" are scientific paper speak for "we're pretty sure that's the cause because no other cause that happens in this demographic would occur so frequently but maybe there's some wild or weird thing we don't know about yet that could be the cause." In fact, pretty much the only things scientists have linked 100% causally thus far is cigarettes and lung cancer and HPV and cervical cancer. While media aimed at the general public will assert causality more freely, more academically inclined media is much more cautious because so many factors go into diseases that it's hard to say A causes B.
EPO is known to contribute to thrombotic events. Again, there's other factors at play here (individual body responses to the hormone, frequency of use, dose, etc.), but it certainly contributes. Basically, thrombotic events mean there's a clot or blockage of some sort preventing blood flow to a specific area. While we typically think of thrombotic events as being related to platelets (as most cases typically are), if you have too many red blood cells or improperly formed red blood cells, they can also clot and lead to a thrombotic event. EPO increases the number of red blood cells, which leads to more red blood cells in the blood stream, which can easily lead to more clotting.
As for your assertion that anything that isn't proven to be performance enhancing or a masking agent shouldn't be banned, I think that's a very dangerous assertion. Yes, there are many relatively safe medications they can take, but no ethical doctor will prescribe these to healthy individuals. And over the counter stuff? Tylenol can easily kill if you overdose - and that's more common than you'd think. Cough medicine can get you high or be used to make illicit drugs (or kill you). Nasal decongestants can increase blood pressure. Aspirin use can cause ringing in your ears. Yes - all of these medications have adverse events that are fairly rare or require overdosing, but they may interact with something else that makes the adverse effect much more likely: oral contraception with smoking can cause strokes, most medications can lead to anaphylaxis if the patient is allergic, patients may have undiagnosed conditions making some medications dangerous, etc. etc. These things have a warning label and pages of instructions for a reason and you should not be taking them if you do not need them.
And just because people take them to deal with jetlag with no issues (I'm sure physicians themselves do this) doesn't mean that's an appropriate or safe use of the medication.
EPO is known to contribute to thrombotic events. Again, there's other factors at play here (individual body responses to the hormone, frequency of use, dose, etc.), but it certainly contributes. Basically, thrombotic events mean there's a clot or blockage of some sort preventing blood flow to a specific area. While we typically think of thrombotic events as being related to platelets (as most cases typically are), if you have too many red blood cells or improperly formed red blood cells, they can also clot and lead to a thrombotic event. EPO increases the number of red blood cells, which leads to more red blood cells in the blood stream, which can easily lead to more clotting.
As for your assertion that anything that isn't proven to be performance enhancing or a masking agent shouldn't be banned, I think that's a very dangerous assertion. Yes, there are many relatively safe medications they can take, but no ethical doctor will prescribe these to healthy individuals. And over the counter stuff? Tylenol can easily kill if you overdose - and that's more common than you'd think. Cough medicine can get you high or be used to make illicit drugs (or kill you). Nasal decongestants can increase blood pressure. Aspirin use can cause ringing in your ears. Yes - all of these medications have adverse events that are fairly rare or require overdosing, but they may interact with something else that makes the adverse effect much more likely: oral contraception with smoking can cause strokes, most medications can lead to anaphylaxis if the patient is allergic, patients may have undiagnosed conditions making some medications dangerous, etc. etc. These things have a warning label and pages of instructions for a reason and you should not be taking them if you do not need them.
And just because people take them to deal with jetlag with no issues (I'm sure physicians themselves do this) doesn't mean that's an appropriate or safe use of the medication.
nobody is switching countries. S/B were not expected to medal in these Olympics, and they will be #1 Russian Team once B/S retire at the end of the season. Bukin's father is an Olympic Russian medalist, his son is not going anywhere.. 
