The medication violations in racehorses at Louisiana racetracks from 2016 to 2020

Waller, Pamela; Lomnicka, Izabela; Lucas, Cam H; Johnson, Sara B.; Dirikolu, Levent

doi:10.1002/vms3.724

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…While the authors stated that medication violations in racehorses in Louisiana represented 1% of the total number of samples analyzed, only postrace racehorse blood and urine samples were analyzed for testing. 26 Significantly, these results correlate well with the same 2 drugs detected in contaminated horsemeat by food safety organizations.…”

Section: Horsemeat Food Safety and Public Health Risksupporting

confidence: 68%

“…24 Lasix (furosemide), a diuretic, is another drug administered to horses on race day to reduce the risk of hemorrhage in the lungs. 25 In a recent study, 26 over 50,000 blood and urine samples from racing thoroughbreds and racing Quarter Horses, the number one horse sent to slaughter from the United States, were analyzed postrace from all 4 racetracks operating in the state of Louisiana from 2016 to 2020. Results showed that phenylbutazone with or without other drugs and clenbuterol (a sympathomimetic amine bronchodilator) were the most common drugs detected in thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racehorses.…”

Section: Horsemeat Food Safety and Public Health Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of horses sent to slaughter for human consumption: impact of horsemeat consumption, residual banned drugs, and public health risks

Weber¹,

Kearley²,

Marini

et al. 2023

ajvr

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Nearly all of the American horses exported to Mexico and Canada are slaughtered for human consumption, and their meat is either exported around the world or consumed locally. Previous work showed that 18 Thoroughbred racehorses purchased by rescues that would have otherwise been sold for export for the sole purpose of slaughter to produce meat for human consumption were administered phenylbutazone. We report the number of American horses exported to Canada and Mexico from 2016 to 2021, the presence of contaminated horsemeat from Canadian slaughterhouses, and the human use and idiosyncratic effects of veterinary phenylbutazone and side effects of clenbuterol, 2 of the drugs that were found in contaminated Canadian horsemeat. The number of live American horses exported to Canada declined precipitously from 2016 to 2017, and a second decline occurred in 2020. All food-producing animals are under strict regulatory control to prevent animals administered banned drugs to enter the food chain. A major principle of this program is zero tolerance for banned drugs and testing for compliance. No regulatory process is in place to remove horses administered banned drugs such as phenylbutazone. The efficacy lasts for more than 24 hours as a result of the irreversible binding to cyclooxygenase, slow elimination, and long elimination half-life of its metabolite oxyphenbutazone. High or frequent doses of phenylbutazone result in disproportionately increased plasma concentrations, which result in the residual presence in tissues. It is this fact that underlies the ban of this drug in food-producing animals. No human clinical surveillance program is in place to monitor individuals on the possible short- and long-term consequences of banned drugs in contaminated horsemeat. If the United States is unable to put in place a regulatory program to remove horses administered banned drugs as exists for all food-producing animals, the exportation of American horses across both borders for the sole purpose of slaughter for human consumption must end.

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Section: Horsemeat Food Safety and Public Health Risksupporting

confidence: 68%

Section: Horsemeat Food Safety and Public Health Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of horses sent to slaughter for human consumption: impact of horsemeat consumption, residual banned drugs, and public health risks

Weber¹,

Kearley²,

Marini

et al. 2023

ajvr

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show abstract

“…Typically, veterinary surgeons were accused of providing excessive and occasionally inappropriate medications rather than illegal medications. The challenge of treating horses under governing body regulations is highlighted by the papers showing that most medication violations were for illegal levels of prescription therapeutic medications in contravention of established thresholds and/or withdrawal guidelines 3,50 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The challenge of treating horses under governing body regulations is highlighted by the papers showing that most medication violations were for illegal levels of prescription therapeutic medications in contravention of established thresholds and/or withdrawal guidelines. 3,50 The use of intra-articular medications was another key area of concern, 7,29,32 with excessive repeat administrations cited as problematic. 32 Furthermore, it was suggested that 'maintenance joint injections were now expected' by trainers/owners.…”

Section: Confidentialitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Competing interests at the heart of equine sports medicine ethics: A scoping review and thematic analysis

Allen

Anderson

King

et al. 2023

Equine Veterinary Journal

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BackgroundThe ethics of using horses in sport is receiving increasing attention and media scrutiny. Sports medicine ethics is an important and well‐established discipline within human medicine and biomedical ethics, which has, thus far, received little application to the equine veterinary field.ObjectivesThe purpose of this scoping review was to explore the existing literature on equine sports medicine ethics, to understand the current concerns and issues, and to map areas for future research.Study designScoping review.MethodsAcademic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, CAB abstracts) were searched to identify papers, published in English, between 2000 and 2022, that mentioned aspect(s) of the ethics of veterinary provision to the performance horse. Additionally, grey (including lay) literature was identified through global search engines to locate supplementary and opinion articles. Relevant data on article characteristics and ethical concerns were extracted and charted. Thematic analysis was employed to identify key issues.ResultsA literature source of 41 papers/articles was used; of which 35 were from veterinary sources, mostly veterinary journals and conference proceedings. Several themes were identified including: competing stakeholder interests; governing bodies, rules and regulations; provision of optimal veterinary care; confidentiality; and social licence for the veterinary profession. The most commonly mentioned specific ethical concern was the use of medication in performance horses.Main limitationsIn this scoping review, we have not sought to critically analyse the ethical arguments within the included literature, but rather to collate them so that an overview of ethical concerns can be established.ConclusionsFurther consideration is required as to how the veterinary profession and sporting governing bodies can support individual veterinary surgeons to strive for the highest levels of professional conduct in equine sports medicine. The veterinary profession should continue to work towards establishing processes for determining what veterinary practices are ethical, optimal, excessive, permissible and impermissible.

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“…Taddei et al (2011) reported positivity in 0.45% of samples collected from race horses in Illinois over a 5 year period. Waller et al (2022) found 1.01% positive samples out of 27,237 blood and 25,672 urine samples collected at Loussiana racetracks from 2016 to 2020. On the Of the substances detected during the period under review, caffeine, morphine, theobromine and oripavine may occur naturally in some plants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Doping control in horses in the Czech Republic in 2010-2019

2023

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The aim of this study was to evaluate data on doping controls in racehorses over a given ten-year period, primarily to identify positive findings and to summarise recommendations for the prevention of accidental contamination with prohibited substances, where appropriate. Data on doping controls of racehorses in the Czech Republic from 2010 to 2019 were obtained from the archives of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic. For each year, the total number of horses starting at races held in the Czech Republic, the number of horses tested, and the results of the doping controls were determined. Data on the type of samples, positive findings and statements from responsible persons about the cause of the positive finding were recorded. During the monitoring period, 11,852 horses competed in races in the Czech Republic and 641 of them underwent a doping control. Blood was taken from 356 horses as the sample for testing and urine was collected from 285 horses. A total of 13 positive findings (2.03% of the 641 tested) were found during the period, namely of morphine, caffeine, theobromine, omeprazole sulphide, furosemide, clenbuterol, norketamine, ritalinic acid, dexamethasone, flunixin, hydroxylidocaine and oripavine. The most common cause, in a total of seven horses, was confirmed as suspected feed contamination. Prevention of positive doping results in our circumstances should therefore be directed primarily towards compliance with proper feed and stable management.

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The medication violations in racehorses at Louisiana racetracks from 2016 to 2020

Cited by 8 publications

References 23 publications

A review of horses sent to slaughter for human consumption: impact of horsemeat consumption, residual banned drugs, and public health risks

A review of horses sent to slaughter for human consumption: impact of horsemeat consumption, residual banned drugs, and public health risks

Competing interests at the heart of equine sports medicine ethics: A scoping review and thematic analysis

Doping control in horses in the Czech Republic in 2010-2019

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