[raleighcomp1]

If anyone remembers the strange "vanishing twin" explanation of Tyler Hamilton's blood tests, here's an even stranger AP story on the Time Magazine website titled "Girls Twin Found Inside Her Stomach": http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1806627,00.html

Note I said Time Magazine, not National Enquirer.

 

[Dwayne Barry]

Well I think this phenomenon is well known and the one upon which the Hamilton claim was based.

It is absurd for other reasons, e.g. he would always show two distinct blood types and shouldn't be able to test clean now.

 

[Pablo]

It's so well-known, it was on an episode of House. However, for Hamilton, it came across a a Hail Mary.

 

[harlond]

The assumption is widespread, but I don't believe Hamilton ever claimed he had a vanishing twin. I only dimly recall his claim, but it was something to the effect that the test in use had not been validated with respect to known causes of false positives, including the vanishing twin scenario. Doesn't really matter anymore, of course, though there would be a benefit if that old joke (not made in this thread) was retired.

 

[Fogdweller]

This is correct and is the only thing I'll ever defend Hamilton for. He never made the claim. The USADA listed 4 reasons why a person would exhibit humologous blood results and chimerism (the vanishing twin) was one of them. The other three were a current pregnancy, past pregnancy and an infusion of someone else's blood. His initial claim was that he received blood for a dental procedure but he could not produce documents in support of it. After that, he went after the test itself, claiming that "we know it when we see it" was not a good enough explanation to fail him.

The assumption is widespread, but I don't believe Hamilton ever claimed he had a vanishing twin. I only dimly recall his claim, but it was something to the effect that the test in use had not been validated with respect to known causes of false positives, including the vanishing twin scenario. Doesn't really matter anymore, of course, though there would be a benefit if that old joke (not made in this thread) was retired.

 

[KB11]

We still have much to learn. Here's a good example of a lady who almost lost her children because the science said she wasnt the mother http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/misc/chimera.html