Indiana commission upholds six-year ban for veterinarian Loomis

The Indiana Horse Racing Commission has approved an administrative law judge’s recommendation to penalize a veterinarian with a six-year ban after she administered injections to two horses on raceday, along with numerous other rule violations, according to commission documents.

Dr. Cynthia Loomis, the veterinarian, was charged with multiple rule violations last year after two horses trained by Marvin Johnson and his wife, Christy Johnson, were scratched from races on July 4, 2022, at Horseshoe Indianapolis after investigators alleged that they had been injected with ACTH, a cortisol-stimulating substance, and Lasix, the regulated diuretic used to mitigate bleeding in the lungs, on the day of the race. Lasix in all racing jurisdictions must be administered by a regulatory veterinarian.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Loomis had also administered a banned substance known as Baycox Iron to horses based at Horseshoe in May and June of 2022, according to the report. Baycox Iron is not approved for use in horses and is primarily used to treat gut dysfunction in pigs. Baycox Iron contains toltrazuril, which is marketed by websites as having multiple benefits for horses despite little scientific evidence supporting its effects.

The investigation also turned up evidence that Loomis had not reported multiple intra-articular injections of corticosteroids to horses to the commission within 24 hours of the administrations, according to the report. The administrative law judge also recommended a fine of $10,000 to Loomis.

The commission approved the recommended penalties on Thursday.

The judge, Michael Buker, called the penalties “reasonable in light of the substantial, credible, and reliable evidence presented” during a hearing conducted earlier this year to consider an appeal by Loomis.

Loomis had been summarily suspended last year when the allegations surfaced. Marvin and Christy Johnson were both suspended one year by the commission last October due to the administrations to the two horses that were scratched.

The violations occurred prior to the advent of the Anti-Doping and Medication Control program administered by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority in May of this year. Under those rules, Loomis would have also faced a ban of considerable length because of the violations.

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