Kentucky penalties advance

The Kentucky General Assembly's Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee approved new penalties for medication violations on Monday, according to Mark York, a spokesman for the agency that promulgated the new rules, the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority.

The rules will now be sent to the General Assembly's Licensing and Occupations Committee for further review, York said.

The authority approved the penalties last year on an emergency basis, and then submitted an amended document to the regulation review subcommittee in February that included withdrawal guidelines for nine commonly used therapeutic drugs. On Feb. 13, the subcommittee failed to act on the rules when some members said the regulations did not adequately protect horsemen.

The rules approved Monday had not been changed by the authority since the last meeting, York said, other than revisions in the language concerning the nine therapeutic drugs that had published withdrawal guidelines.

The emergency guidelines expired Feb. 15, and the state is now enforcing penalties under its previous regulations, considered less punitive than the new rules.