Ryan Braun PED Ban Overturned: How It Will Affect Future Positive PED Tests

Just because something has "never happened before" doesn't mean it won't ever happen. That's one of several lessons learned from last night's groundbreaking decision to overturn the positive PED test that threatened reigning National League MVP Ryan Braun with a 50-game suspension. 

Never had an appeal been upheld but that all changed last night. Last night arbiter Shyam Das threw out Major League Baseball's positive test, citing a breach of the chain of custody. The decision is groundbreaking. 

It's the first time that a positive drug test has even been overturned under Major League Baseball's appeals process. 

The decision has raised eyes among many in the drug testing community. 

From Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency:

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To have this sort of technicality of all technicalities let a player off ... it's just a sad day for all the clean players and those that abide by the rules within professional baseball.

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Braun, for his part, had a decidedly different take on it. 

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"It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation," Braun said. "We were able to get through this because I am innocent and the truth is on our side."

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Major League Baseball may or may not choose to try to have Das' decision overturned. That's a decision that MLB will make but the future of every other positive PED test in Major League Baseball is now going to be looked at through a different lens. 

First of all, entering the Braun appeals process, no player had ever successfully appealed a positive test. The precedent that this successful appeal sets is one that will in fact lead all future positive tests down a similar path. 

Major League Baseball and our own legal system are all based on a form of precedent. The precedent that this appeal sets and how that decision are handled by the players and the league are all going to influence future PED test results and ensuing appeals. 

Braun is the reigning National League Most Valuable Player. That puts this decision in an even greater light. While alarmists may proclaim baseball's testing program to be flawed or broken, it really works in a manner similar to almost everything in life: imperfectly. 

The "chain of custody" aspect of this decision is inherently important and since it was found to have been breached, Braun is deserving of his appeal victory. The act of drug testing is necessary but it must be administered fairly and consistently. 

The improper handling of samples can't be excused because it is a sign that the testing system is not administered on a level playing field. The other important issue is one of privacy. 

Drug testing is an invasive procedure to begin with but it's also become an accepted part of society, with testing in many amateur and professional sports as well as in various businesses. Last December when Braun's positive test was revealed in a press leak, it constituted a breach of the rules for testing as laid out by Major League Baseball.

According to the MLB drug testing policy:

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The Office of the Commissioner, the Association, HPAC, Club personnel, and all of their members, affiliates, agents, consultants and employees, are prohibited from publicly disclosing information about the Player’s test results, Initial Evaluation, diagnosis, Treatment Program (including whether a Player is on either the Clinical or Administrative Track), prognosis or compliance with the Program.

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Braun, for his part, didn't dispute the positive test, he has at times disputed whether or not he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug as opposed to a banned substance. Not every substance that's banned is technically a performance-enhancing drug. He also successfully disputed the process by which the test was handled. 

If Major League Baseball is going to administer drug tests to ensure that the game is played on a level playing field, then the tests must be handled responsibly and consistently. A positive test can easily cost a player his reputation and along with that millions of dollars in earnings. 

So baseball needs to make sure its tests are consistent and accurate. Baseball players need to be conscious of nearly everything that they put in their bodies. Fans need to accept a degree of imperfection in what we all know is an imperfect world. 

The major implications of this upheld appeal are that Major League Baseball would seem likely to want to close the loopholes exposed in the Braun appeals process. Even with that being the case, players will probably enter the appeals process with far more optimism in the future than they did before this case. 

Baseball's drug testing process will only improve in its fairness and accuracy by having its weaknesses and flaws exposed. There will be endless debates about Braun's supposed "guilt" or "innocence" but what can't be denied is that the test as administered to Braun was flawed. If the test can't hold up to scrutiny, then neither can its results.