AAEP Adopts New Medication Policy

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The American Association of Equine Practitioners has adopted a new policy regarding therapeutic medication in racehorses that, among other things, calls for a ban on all race day medications other than the diuretic furosemide used to treat internal bleeding.

Currently, a number of states allow other anti-bleeder medications, and Kentucky permits race-day administration of anti-inflammatory medications including phenylbutazone. The new policy was developed by a steering committee chaired by Dr. Bob Vallance of Maryland and approved by the AAEP board.

The policy urges racing jurisdictions to adopt "uniform medication guidelines, testing procedures with strict quality controls, and penalty schedules that strive to protect the integrity of racing as well as the health and well-being of the horse." To that end, the AAEP is calling for a "medication summit" in 2001 with broad participation.

The policy also asks that "pharmacologically-insignificant" levels of therapeutic medication found during testing not constitute medication rule violations. It says stimulants, depressants, local anesthetics, blocking agents, or products that interfere with accurate testing should be "strictly forbidden." The AAEP also voted to endorse "increased surveillance and enforcement" of medication regulations.

The policy statement by the AAEP comes a few months after a committee formed by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association called for heightened security, enforcement, and drug testing, and during an early phase of a "super testing" program instituted by a task force of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

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