Doping and peptides in Panama sport: what the law and WADA say

The anti-doping framework in Panama

In Panama, the legal basis for anti-doping control is Law 50 of December 10, 2007 (Gaceta Oficial 25937), which reformed Law 16 of 1995 on the Panamanian Sports Institute (PANDEPORTES). Its article 15-K creates the National Sport Anti-Doping Commission (Comisión Nacional Antidopaje Deportivo), and article 15-M defines doping as not only using banned substances or methods but also the conduct of anyone who facilitates, supplies or incites doping and hinders its control¹. For a physician that last clause matters: liability does not rest on the athlete alone. Panama also approved the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport through Law 46 of November 8, 2007 (Gaceta Oficial 25916)².

That architecture has moved slowly. In January 2009, PANDEPORTES's head of sports medicine told La Estrella de Panamá that the formation of the National Anti-Doping Commission (NADO), as required by law, was then in process³. We found no recent public source confirming the commission's current status, so we do not claim one. In February 2026, Law 509 added a chapter to Law 16 of 1995, and the Executive had objected to articles that duplicated Law 16 and Law 50 of 2007; the news report does not mention doping⁸.

Panamanian athletes who were sanctioned

The public cases we found involve steroids and diuretics, not peptides. At the 2017 Central American Games in Managua, bodybuilder Ricardo Riega tested positive for an anabolic steroid and a four-year suspension was reported; wrestler Rodolfo Waithe tested positive for a blood-pressure drug with a diuretic effect, with a suspension of at least one year, shorter than the four-year standard because an appeal was filed, and the delegation lost a gold medal⁴. A federation official said Waithe's case "was not doping for muscle or performance (...) it is a case of the athlete's health"⁴.

In baseball, player Anthony Amaya was suspended from all federation activity for three years and nine months (August 1, 2018 to May 1, 2022) for stanozolol found in an out-of-competition test in Panama City on July 4, 2018⁵. The result was announced by the Central America Regional Anti-Doping Organization (ORAD-CAM)⁵.

Testing capacity and regional compliance

In August 2022 WADA approved the Clínico Genetix laboratory in Panama City "exclusively" for blood analysis in support of the Athlete Biological Passport⁶. The approval is limited to that blood analysis. Regionally, in September 2023 WADA declared Panam Sports non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code because it had not taken "essential corrective measures in its anti-doping program within the agreed timeframe"; the organization had 21 days to appeal or meet the conditions⁷. We did not verify how that case was resolved.

What the 2026 List prohibits: S0 and S2

WADA's 2026 Prohibited List, in force since January 1, has a catch-all: S0 covers "any pharmacological substance" not addressed in other sections, and the list expressly cites BPC-157⁹. USADA sums it up: BPC-157 is prohibited, not approved for human clinical use by the FDA or any other health authority in the world, and no human clinical trials establish efficacy¹⁰. Sport Integrity Canada reminded athletes in April 2026 that using, administering, trafficking in or possessing these substances can constitute an anti-doping rule violation¹¹.

Section S2 names, along with other substances of similar structure or effect, growth hormone-releasing hormone analogues (CJC-1295, sermorelin, tesamorelin), secretagogues (ipamorelin, ibutamoren or MK-677), growth hormone-releasing peptides (GHRP-2, GHRP-6, hexarelin) and, among growth factors, thymosin β4 and its derivatives, such as TB-500⁹. For the clinical side of a physician seeing an athlete, see our analysis of prescribing BPC-157 to athletes and the physician's legal map in Panama.

GLP-1 drugs: permitted for now

Semaglutide and tirzepatide are not on the Prohibited List. Triathlon Magazine reported in December 2025 that semaglutide has been in WADA's Monitoring Program since 2024¹². On September 28, 2026 it was reported that the 2027 list, effective January 1, 2027, keeps GLP-1 receptor agonists permitted: WADA's advisory group concluded there is "insufficient evidence to conclude with confidence" that they meet the inclusion criteria¹³. A 2026 narrative review agrees: current evidence is insufficient to classify them as doping agents and it calls for continued monitoring¹⁶. Laboratories are already working on detection: a validated method detects five GLP-1 receptor agonists in serum and dried blood spots¹⁷. On the counterfeit market in the country, see counterfeit Ozempic and Mounjaro in Panama.

How BPC-157 is detected

A common argument is that peptides "cannot be detected". The published work says otherwise. In 2017 a group validated a weak cation exchange solid-phase extraction method to detect BPC-157 in urine, with a limit of detection of 0.1 ng/mL, and found it forms a stable metabolite that should be detectable in urine¹⁴. In 2023 an anti-doping laboratory developed and validated a method for BPC-157 and its five main metabolites in human urine, with detection limits of 0.01 to 0.11 ng/mL¹⁵.