New York Forum to Discuss Lasix Use
Description:
Considering possible changes to the state's equine drug laws, New York regulators are calling together education, veterinary science, and industry experts to discuss the use of the anti-bleeding medicine furosemide.
The Aug. 24 gathering in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. comes as some board members of the New York Gaming Commission have expressed a growing desire to perhaps address changing how furosemide, also known as Salix or Lasix, is administered to horses on race days.
"As a general sense, Lasix is the most controversial drug issue that's discussed in horse racing," said Robert Williams, the NYGC's executive director. The series of panels being put together for the August forum will help guide the commission's board as it considers possible changes to the rules governing use of Lasix.
"They need to have a good sense of how Lasix fits into the regulatory system, and the benefits and negatives, before making any determination whether there should be modification of Lasix rules," Williams, in an interview, said of the agency's board.
Under pressure from the industry, including leaders of the New York Racing Association, New York state in 1995 ended decades of bans on race-day drugs when it lifted the prohibition on Lasix. There have been calls in the legislature to ban the use of Lasix, but those efforts did not get turned into agreed-to bills in the two houses.
The 20th anniversary of that decision, Williams said, makes it good time to examine the industry's experience in the use of Lasix "to make sure the rules you have on your books are the most appropriate when you're considering the health and safety of the equine athlete."
Without signaling how the board might act, Williams said there have been a number of ideas OK'd or considered in other states that New York regulators could consider. They include allowing tracks to card Lasix-free races, providing Lasix for only certain categories of horses, such as 2-year-olds, and having horses entered in some stakes races to be free of race-day Lasix administrations.
The NYGC in March suggested the idea of a gathering of experts to help guide its determination about the drug's use.
The Aug. 24 seminar will be held at the Empire State College in Saratoga. It will feature separate panels that will include individuals with academic equine drug research expertise, horsemen representing different sides on the Lasix issue, along with veterinarians and industry leaders.
Bennett Liebman, an Albany Law School professor and former member of the state Racing and Wagering Board, which is the predecessor agency to the NYGC, will open the gathering to set up the background on the issues surrounding the drug.
The NYGC the following week, on Sept. 1, will then host a day-long public meeting to try to kick-start recommendations from a nearly 4-year-old task force regarding handling of retired racehorses.
Williams said the gathering is meant to "raise the profile" of the issue again.
"Once the horse is retired, we've lost jurisdiction over that horse," he said of his agency's legal authority. But, he added, "There's a social responsibility for participation in the industry and that includes ensuring that the athlete has a place when they're off the track."
Participants will also include representatives from groups that provide homes for retired racehorses, The Jockey Club, and Fasig-Tipton Co., which is hosting the event, along with a number of prominent owners and trainers who are expected to press the urgency of the matter.