BEIJING - The Paralympics suffered its second doping scandal in as many days on Wednesday, with a German wheelchair basketball player was sent home for taking a drug he said was meant to fight hair loss.

A statement from the German National Paralympic Committee said Ahmet Coskun had tested positive for finasteride after a pre-competition urine test on August 23.

The substance is used in a drug that fights hair loss and is on a list of banned substances, according to the statement.

It said that although finasteride does not enhance performance, it can be used to cover up drugs that do.

"I was thinking about my hair and had no idea that the drug, which is against hair loss, contained a banned substance. I'm very upset. I never intended to do doping," Coskun said, according to the statement.

German chef de mission Karl Quade expressed regret at the news.

"We take the issue of anti-doping very seriously. We've been carrying out an intensive anti-doping campaign for years in cooperation with NADA (the German anti-doping agency)," Quade said in the same statement.

Coskun, 33, who played for Germany in three pool matches, but not take part in Wednesday's 73-63 win over Iran, will return home soon, German paralympic chiefs said.

On Tuesday, Pakistani powerlifter Naveed Ahmed Butt, 37, tested positive for the steroid methandienone metabolites on September 4, two days before the opening ceremony.

IPC President Philip Craven said at the weekend that he was hoping for a "totally clean" event following hard work by authorities to stamp out doping through extensive testing and education.

A total of 461 tests had been carried out at the Games, both in and out of competition by the end of Tuesday.

At the Athens Games in 2004, 680 doping tests were conducted, resulting in 10 violations -- two out-of-competition and eight in-competition -- according to the IPC.

The 13th Paralympics, involving more than 4,000 athletes, run until September 17.