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I read that statement this morning in one of the articles [daily mail or AP??) and heard an SI writer make it this morning on ABC news.

That's one of the problems, we CANNOT trust the media. I guess everyone on FR is aware of the leftist bias in the MSM, but the real problem (pace Gov Palin) is that the media has totally forgotten the "where, what, how, when".

Part of my interest in the LA story has been to see how the media handles this story. Unfortunately, it appears that journalists are no longer able to quote the simplest statement without tweaking its meaning.

As for the low/medium blood counts it is stated by among other Dr Michele Ferrari on his blog, but also at least in one of the witness statement in the USADA report.

Yes, the way EPO (which is a natural hormone) works is that it binds to receptors on immature cells in the bone marrow. Naturally occurring EPO has a half-life around 6 hours in blood, though, recombinant EPO products usually have longer half-lifes to avoid having to give too frequent injections. Once it has bound to the receptors the formation of new blood cells will start. Therefore, a bolus dose of EPO will have an effect that lasts for days. (The exact time depends on the amount and other physical factors, such as the iron stores in the body.)