UCLA Olympic lab penalized by world drug agency

MONTREAL (AP) - The World Anti-Doping Agency has partially suspended its accreditation of the UCLA Olympic lab for three months.

WADA said in a statement the lab's procedures were not in keeping with "best practice."

WADA says the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory can continue its normal anti-doping testing during the suspension, but must get a second opinion from another WADA-accredited lab before reporting certain findings.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said WADA's ruling doesn't mean there should be any concern about the lab's reliability.

"It's important to note that there have never been any false positives, or any suspicion of false positives, at the UCLA Laboratory," the USADA said in a statement. "Moreover, no athlete has been wrongfully suspended or disciplined."

UCLA was notified of the decision last week and has 21 days to appeal.

The lab says it is the world's largest WADA-accredited drug-testing facility and analyzes 45,000 urine specimens a year. UCLA spokeswoman Elaine Schmidt said the lab had no further comment beyond the USADA statement.