Sport, doping e medicina: questioni di bioetica

Famous athletes witness the decay of a noble art. Several moral factors make doping be a wide and contagious phenomenon: life-medicalization; drug abuse and cultural pharmaco-dependency; the myth of highest performances; the simplistic way of dealing with ethical issues; the ruling logic of the show business; a confused idea of the medical covenant. A definition of the virtuous sporting gesture is proposed; mutual scrutiny and crediting are hoped among the moral agents involved both in the great events and in the daily amateurish practice; a required training in medical humanities is wished for sports physicians.