KY Drug Council Moves Toward Uniformity

A council that makes recommendations on medication policies for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will go along with several changes in withdrawal times and threshold levels that would move the state toward National Uniform Medication Program policies.

KHRC staff asked for a consensus on changes to several medication rules from the state's Equine Drug Research Council during its regular meeting Nov. 12. The changes would help bring Kentucky in line with efforts to put in place uniform medication policies throughout the country shaped by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.

KHRC equine medical director Mary Scollay did not ask for a vote from EDRC members. She was looking for a consensus as rules are drawn up that can be voted on, as a recommendation to the KHRC, during an EDRC meeting before the Dec. 12 KHRC meeting.

One RMTC recommendation the EDRC did not support was extending the withdrawal guidance for flunixin (banomine) from 24 hours to 32 hours. Instead, the EDRC asked that the current 24-hour withdrawal time be kept in place and the threshold level be lifted from 20 nanograms to 50 nanograms.

EDRC members noted that the 24-hour withdrawal time is not accurate, and administering flunixin 24 hours out can result in an overage. While the RMTC is moving toward addressing the issue by extending the withdrawal time, the EDRC believes increasing the threshold level was the better solution.

The EDRC also debated the RMTC recommendation on withdrawal guidance and the threshold for the bronchodilator albuterol. The RMTC threshold recommendation would follow a policy in place in California that allows for one nanogram per one milliliter of urine. The withdrawal time recommendation is 72 hours before a race.

Council member Dr. Andy Roberts opposed the threshold recommendation because he said it was not based on scientific study. EDRC chairman Dr. Jerry Yon noted that while the recommendations might not be based on the best science, they would allow the state to move toward uniform regulation until such science is available.

The RMTC called the threshold for albuterol an "interim threshold." Noting the KHRC's commitment to uniform medication, the EDRC gave Scollay the go-ahead on the albuterol withdrawal time and threshold, but that debate figures to come up again.

The KHRC also will move forward on rule changes classifying alclofenac as a Class 2, Penalty B substance because the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug s not approved for use in the United States. The EDRC also went along with revised primary and secondary thresholds for ketoprofen (10ng/ml), and a revised lower secondary threshold for phenylbutazone, commonly called Bute.