If Steroids Are Cheating Why Isn\'t Lasik

Lasik Cheating

A Summary of William Saletan's "The Beam in Your Eye: If steroids are cheating, why isn't LASIK?"

William Saletan's essay "The Beam in Your Eye: If steroids are cheating, why isn't LASIK?" addresses the issue of the steroid scandal in baseball and compares it to LASIK eye surgery, which has been used by many athletes in different sports to improve their visions and thus improve their athletic ability. The central claim he makes is that steroids and performance enhancing drugs have been unfairly singled out as a method of artificially enhancing athletic performance, and that there are other sources as well. Saletan feels it is especially unfair to come down so hard on steroids as a substance that causes cheating when other medical enhancements -- specifically the LASIK procedure -- allow for better-than-average and better-than-normal performance. Though some people actually have worse-than-average vision and are helped by the eye surgery, just as some people with medical conditions are treated with steroids, Saletan draws a distinction between therapy and enhancement, and claims that enhancement should either be fully allowed in the sports world or honestly and completely denied.

He begins by referencing Mark McGwire's appearance before a Congressional hearing on steroids, at which he was condemned for having used a substance called "andros" during the time he broke the record for the most home runs in a season. Though the substance was not illegal, Congress and baseball officials alike disapproved of his behavior and called it cheating. Saletan that comments on the case of Tiger Woods, who was on a losing streak until LASIK eye surgery improved his vision to 20/15 (20/20 is average) and went on to win the Master's -- golf's biggest tournament -- without anybody mentioning his use of a performance enhancing procedure.

Saletan cites three major reasons listed by officials and members of Congress as to why steroids should be banned: "the drugs are illegal, they're harmful, and they're cheating." He quickly dispenses with the first reasons by claiming that illegality does not provide a reason for why such substances should be illegal-it is merely a rather obvious statement of fact that doesn't address he issue. In dealing with the fact that steroids are harmless, Saletan notes that the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse spoke at the Congressional hearing and admitted that certain steroids are not always harmful, are used to treat certain patients, and that even those using the drugs for athletic enhancement do not all suffer from the same harmful effects. Saletan is careful to not that he considers the street use of such drugs an unnecessary and costly risk, but stresses that McGwire and other star athletes have the money to control these risks better tan anyone by using purer substances with a doctor's supervision.

This brings Saletan to the issue of steroids as cheating, which is what he devotes the bulk of his essay to. He notes that six different members of Congress used the term "cheating" to refer to steroid use in sports, and cites Tom Davis as saying he will chair a committee promoting zero-tolerance on the use of medical enhancements in sports. It is this "zero-tolerance" position that Saletan pounces on, mentioning that not only was Mark McGwire using performance-enhancing drugs when he broke the home-run record, but also that the star hitter wore contacts that improved his vision to above-average. Saletan claims that this increased vision has undoubtedly altered McGwire's performance, allowing him to it fastballs and win games that otherwise might have whizzed by him and eventually led to a loss.

Form these lenses Saletan moves to Tiger Woods' eyes, which have likewise been improved but without lenses that could be banned and removed -- his surgery cannot simply be taken out. Saletan goes on to list many other athletes in many different sports who have also had LASIK surgery in recent years. And whose performance in their various positions and sports has noticeably improved because of the improved vision that the surgeries granted to them. Though many of these athletes had visions problems that required lenses before the surgery, Saletan also points out that many of the athletes actually aimed at improving their vision to above-average levels, changing the nature of the surgery from therapy to enhancement -- the same type of enhancement disallowed through the use of steroids. Recipients of LASIK surgery who aren't satisfied with the results can actually have a second treatment to improve their vision further, and the LASIK industry actually calls this an "enhancement."