THE AFL has withdrawn all charges against Essendon club doctor Bruce Reid issued after the ASADA inquiry into the Bombers' supplements program in 2011 and 2012.
Reid had been contesting his charge of conduct unbecoming issued by the League last month and launched legal action, but a joint statement released on Wednesday confirmed a settlement had been agreed to by the AFL and Reid.
He was due to reappear in the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday.
"I support the stance taken by the AFL and the AFL Medical Officers Association in requiring appropriate governance at club level (particularly in terms of 'sports science')," he said in the statement.
"(This includes) a hierarchy of control which ensures a club doctor is the key person with the responsibility within AFL clubs for the health, welfare and safety of the playing group."
Reid said he supported the AFL's fundamental priority in looking after the health and welfare of the players and expressed concern over the circumstances that led to the drugs scandal at the Bombers.
Failures of governance within the high performance unit at Essendon led to him being sidelined at the club, with key information kept from him by the club's sports scientists during much of 2012.
The statement reiterated his belief that the culture of AFL football must remain drug-free.
Reid has taken leave from the Bombers, but has been reappointed for next season and will return to the club in January, which means he will be the only key player from the scandal who will return to the Bombers at the start of next year.
The supplements scandal led to the resignation of club president David Evans and chief executive Ian Robson, while the AFL issued a 12-month suspension to coach James Hird and a six-month ban to football manager Danny Corcoran (two months of which was suspended) for bringing the game into disrepute.
The future of assistant coach Mark Thompson, who was fined $30,000, remains unclear. He has declared himself out of the running to be the interim senior coach and is yet to commit to returning to the club in his former capacity.
It was a letter sent by Reid to Hird last year that formed a central plank of the charges laid by the AFL against the Bombers for bringing the game into disrepute.
Full text of Reid's letter to James Hird and Paul Hamilton
After listing concerns about AOD-9064, the supplement at the centre of the scandal, he wrote: "I think we are playing at the edge and this will read extremely badly in the press for our club and for the benefits and also for side effects that are not known in the long term, I have trouble with all these drugs.
"I am very frustrated by this and now feel I am letting the club down by not automatically approving of these things. I need to collect my thoughts as these drugs have been given without my knowledge.
"I am sure Steve Danks believes that what we are doing is totally ethical and legal, however, one wonders whether if you take a long stance and look at this from a distance, whether you would want your children being injected with a derivative hormone that is not free to the community and whether calf’s blood, that has been used for many years and is still doubted by most doctors, is worth pursuing."
The ASADA investigation into the Bombers is ongoing, but it remains the case that no infraction notices have been issued to Essendon players for taking banned supplements.
Essendon chairman Paul Little said the dropping of the charges was great news.
"I haven't spoken to Bruce yet but I think he is probably feeling relieved," he said at the unveiling of a statue at the MCG honouring Essendon icon John Coleman.?
Little said the Bombers could now focus on rebuilding the club in time for next season.
"The challenges ahead for us now with the club are getting our coaching role finalised and one or two other appointments.
"We really are looking forward to the future; we have obviously still got some tidying up to do but we are making a lot of progress and are in a very positive frame of mind at the club."
