Halep is seeking more than $10 million in damages from Quantum Nutrition, which operates as Schinoussa Superfoods, after testing positive at the 2022 US Open for Roxadustat, a drug often used by people suffering from anemia. “I really believe that the truth will come out and that the day of our appearance on the ground will soon come,” Halep told reporters.
Roxadustat is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances because it can increase hemoglobin and red blood cell production, thereby boosting endurance.
Suspicious quantity of medication
The two-time Grand Slam champion said she had never used banned substances and that Quantum’s negligence and false claims that its supplement was legal had damaged her career. Halep is also seeking punitive damages. She filed the suit in a New York state court in Manhattan.
Quantum, based in Scarborough, Ontario, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Its founder told Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail in October that Halep was looking for a scapegoat and that his company was becoming “the scapegoat.”
While acknowledging that Halep did not know the supplement might contain Roxadustat, the court said contamination could not explain the amount of drug found in her urine sample from August 29, 2022. Halep appealed this decision last week before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
