Texas swimmer sues vitamin maker: 'I want them to know the damage they've done'

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KXAN by Wes Rapaport 4/19/2019

Madisyn Cox sues health company, claims vitamin had banned substance

Madisyn Cox has always been competitive. She's testing that spirit in a new way.

Cox, 23, is suing Cooper Concepts and Cooper Aerobics, claiming the Dallas-based companies "produced, distributed, and sold" a multivitamin that turned out to be tainted with Trimetazidine. The drug is known to aid in improving the cardiovascular system but is banned by competitive swimming and is not approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration.

The multivitamin, Cooper Complete® Elite Athlete, does not have the drug on its label, the lawsuit, filed 250th District court in Travis County, states. Cox said she took the multivitamin twice a day for approximately seven years at the advice of a doctor to "round out the corners" of her diet.

"I liked it," Cox said of the results from the multivitamin. "I get my blood work done every six weeks so it was a good marker of 'OK, I’m getting everything I need,' and the vitamin was helping round that out."

Supplement taken for years before 'bad batch' cost her

Cox began swimming competitively in her hometown of Lubbock at age four. She was on the U.S. National Swim Team and delayed graduation from the University of Texas to become a professional swimmer.

Then last year, she got a phone call after one of her blood tests.

"I had failed a drug test," she said. "At that point I was like – confusion beyond belief."

According to court documents, Cox's test revealed .1 ng/ml Trimetazidine in her system.

More: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas-politics/texas-swimmer-sues-vitamin-maker-i-want-them-to-know-the-damage-they-ve-done-/1939162020