Major League Baseball is preparing to question Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Los Angeles Dodgers' team physician, after reporting that he supported UFC star Conor McGregor’s use of performance-enhancing drugs while the fighter recovered from a severe leg fracture. The move puts one of Los Angeles' most prominent sports doctors, who also works with the Rams and other elite athletes, under the microscope of a league that has tightened its drug rules in recent years.
According to The New York Times, MLB investigators plan to speak with ElAttrache in the coming weeks to learn more about his role in McGregor’s recovery. The Times also reported that ElAttrache wrote a letter supporting a special therapeutic-exemption request for McGregor, a bid that anti‑doping officials ultimately denied.
What MLB Wants To Know
League investigators are trying to determine whether ElAttrache’s support for McGregor was a one-off medical opinion or part of a broader pattern of advising athletes to use treatments that would fall on the wrong side of drug-testing rules, according to CBS Sports. Sources told CBS the questioning is intended to find out whether ElAttrache has ever backed or recommended similar treatments for Major League Baseball players.
ElAttrache’s Response And Local Roots
In a text message to The New York Times, ElAttrache said he referred McGregor to bone‑healing specialists after the surgery and "explained that I don’t prescribe hormone or steroid treatment." He is a longtime Los Angeles fixture, listed as a team physician for both the Dodgers and the Rams, and his website highlights a long list of elite athletes he has treated, according to Dr. Neal ElAttrache's site.
How Therapeutic Exemptions Work
Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program allows tightly controlled therapeutic‑use exemptions, or TUEs, for specific medical needs. Those applications are reviewed by an independent program administrator and expert medical panels, according to MLB. That multilayered review is a key reason the league often digs into clinical recommendations whenever a high‑profile medical endorsement bumps up against substances that are otherwise prohibited.
What’s Next For The Dodgers And Their Star Surgeon
So far, MLB has not labeled the matter a formal investigation; a league source described the planned interviews as fact gathering rather than an official probe, per NBC Sports. The Dodgers declined to comment on the situation, according to CBS Sports, while league officials sort out whether the fact-finding needs to go any further.
What MLB Could Do If Lines Were Crossed
If investigators uncover evidence that a team doctor advised MLB players to use prohibited treatments or helped secure improper exemptions, the Joint Drug Program includes mechanisms for review and potential discipline by both the league and the players' association, according to MLB. Officials and experts also note that there is a meaningful distinction between advising a non‑baseball athlete and violating baseball’s own policy, and the planned interviews are intended to clarify whether that line was crossed.
For Los Angeles sports fans, it is a decidedly odd cross‑sport saga: a New York Times look at an MMA rehab program has turned into a question for baseball’s rule enforcers. MLB, the Dodgers and Dr. ElAttrache are all likely to be watched closely as the league’s inquiries unfold.
