ARCI committee approves withdrawal time recommendations for pain killers

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Drug Testing and Standards Committee of the Association of Racing Commissioners International has approved recommendations that would ban the administration of a class of painkilling drugs within 48 hours of a race and the administration of anti-inflammatory drugs known as corticosteroids within 14 days of a race, the organization said on Friday.

The recommendations are identical to rules put in place in California earlier this year as a reaction to criticism from some quarters over a spate of racetrack fatalities at Santa Anita Park. Many regulatory and veterinary officials have supported those limits on the two classes of drugs, contending that shorter limits in some states could complicate the work done by regulatory veterinarians during pre-race exams because of lingering effects of the medications.

The approval by the committee is only the first step in a multi-stage process to establish the new limits as model rules, according to Ed Martin, the president of RCI, which is an umbrella group for U.S. racing commissions.

The limits now would need to go to the organization’s Model Rules Committee for debate and approval, and then go before the full RCI board, Martin said, before being issued as model rules. Members of the RCI are strongly encouraged to adopt any model rules approved by the full RCI board.

The new limit on corticosteroids is also pending a scientific review, Martin said.

The 48-hour restriction would apply to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as phenylbutazone, a commonly administered painkiller. Currently, a document on withdrawal times on regulated medications produced by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium recommends a 24-hour withdrawal time, based on previous scientific studies, but that organization recently released a statement endorsing the 48-hour limit.

The approval of the new limits comes amidst an overall review of racing’s medication policies due to the fatalities at Santa Anita Park, which resulted in widespread scrutiny of the racing industry and calls from some anti-racing organizations for the sport to be shut down.