Elena Delle Donne, the Washington Mystics superstar and reigning WNBA MVP, told ESPN on Monday that her request to opt out of the 2020 season was denied by a panel of physicians, assembled by the WNBA and the players association.
Delle Donne’s request was for medical reasons because she’s had chronic Lyme disease since 2008, and her personal physician told her she was at a high risk for contracting COVID-19 and having related complications, ESPN reported. She has not yet traveled to the WNBA bubble at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and said in a statement to ESPN that she needs to think things over and speak with her doctor and her wife before making a decision about playing or not.
On Twitter last week, the 30-year-old forward — who led the Mystics to the franchise’s first championship last year — said she has “a compromised immune system” and as much as she wants to be with her teammates, “health and safety are the priority”.
“The independent panel of doctors the league appointed to review high-risk cases have advised that I’m not high risk, and should be permitted to play in the bubble,” Delle Donne said in a statement released to ESPN Monday.
“I love my team, and we had an unbelievable season last year, and I want to play! But the question is whether or not the WNBA bubble is safe for me. My personal physician who has treated me for Lyme disease for years advised me that I’m at high risk for contracting and having complications from COVID-19,” Delle Donne added in her statement.
“I’m thinking things over, talking to my doctor and my wife, and look forward to sharing what I ultimately plan to do very soon.”
Many of you know about my ongoing battle with Lyme Disease, and a compromised immune system. For now I'm following protocol and waiting for a risk assessment from the league medical panel. Missing my teammates but health and safety are the priority 🙏 https://t.co/3oChtiaqXJ
— Elena Delle Donne (@De11eDonne) July 8, 2020
Players can skip the abbreviated 22-game regular season for any reason, as The Washington Post noted, but only the players “deemed high risk by doctors will still receive full pay.”
Delle Donne’s agent, Erin Kane, told ESPN her client was in “disbelief” over the decision to reject her request to medically opt out of the season and that players don’t have the opportunity to appeal.
So now, the two-time WNBA MVP will have to choose between opting out of the season without getting paid or playing and possibly contracting a virus — which has already killed more than 134,000 people in the U.S. — that her own doctor said could lead to complications.
That’s absolutely ridiculous and an appalling look for the league.
It seems fair to assume that Delle Donne’s personal physician, who she specifically said has treated her for Lyme disease for years, knows better than a panel of doctors what’s best for their patient.
And it really shouldn’t matter that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t include Lyme disease among the underlying medical conditions that increase the risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Even if the panel is taking the CDC’s guidelines into consideration when looking at high-risk cases, as ESPN reported.
Delle Donne has been open about her fight against Lyme disease, which can have overlapping symptoms with COVID-19, USA TODAY noted. In a story for ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue in 2016, she said her “biggest challenge is trying to stay healthy with Lyme disease,” adding that she takes about 50 supplements a day to combat it.
“At my worst, I have muscle aches and fatigue and various symptoms, like you get when you have the flu,” she told ESPN in 2016. “Then there are days I’ll wake up a little bit tired or my muscles aren’t recovering as well, but I keep that in mind and will alter my training.”
There are no proven treatments for chronic Lyme disease, more specially known as Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, according to the CDC. And because it has a history of controversy surrounding treatment options, Harvard Medical School recommends patients find “a doctor you trust and who can work closely with you.”
It certainly appears as though Delle Donne has done exactly that if she’s been treated by the same doctor for years. Couple that with how little is still understood about the novel coronavirus, its longterm effects and how it may interact with underlying medical conditions, her doctor seems to be the best person to evaluate the potential health risks of playing this season.
The WNBA’s panel should have deferred to the opinion of her personal doctor, as well as that of the Mystics’ team physician. More from ESPN’s story Monday:
“…Kane told ESPN that the Mystics’ team physician, Dr. Anne Rettig, sent a letter to the medical panel advising them that Delle Donne was cleared to play but noted that she should be considered ‘higher risk.'”
Instead, Delle Donne — like far too many Americans during this pandemic — now has to weigh her paycheck against her jeopardizing health. And that’s unacceptable.
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