Home » 2014 Issues » December 31, 2014 » SGC-49-13-00021-A Restricted Time Period for Systemic Administrations of Corticosteroids to Thoroughbred Horses
SGC-49-13-00021-A Restricted Time Period for Systemic Administrations of Corticosteroids to Thoroughbred Horses
12/31/14 N.Y. St. Reg. SGC-49-13-00021-A
NEW YORK STATE REGISTER
VOLUME XXXVI, ISSUE 52
December 31, 2014
RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES
NEW YORK STATE GAMING COMMISSION
NOTICE OF ADOPTION
I.D No. SGC-49-13-00021-A
Filing No. 1052
Filing Date. Dec. 16, 2014
Effective Date. Jan. 01, 2015
Restricted Time Period for Systemic Administrations of Corticosteroids to Thoroughbred Horses
PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action:
Action taken:
Amendment of section 4043.2(i) of Title 9 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Racing, Pari-Mutual Wagering and Breeding Law, sections 103(2), 104(1), (19) and 122
Subject:
Restricted time period for systemic administrations of corticosteroids to thoroughbred horses.
Purpose:
To enhance the integrity and safety of thoroughbred horse racing.
Text or summary was published
in the December 4, 2013 issue of the Register, I.D. No. SGC-49-13-00021-P.
Final rule as compared with last published rule:
No changes.
Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Kristen Buckley, Acting Secretary, New York State Gaming Commission, One Broadway Center, PO Box 7500, Schenectady, NY 12305-7500, (518) 388-3407, email: gamingrules@gaming.ny.gov
Initial Review of Rule
As a rule that does not require a RFA, RAFA or JIS, this rule will be initially reviewed in the calendar year 2019, which is no later than the 5th year after the year in which this rule is being adopted.
Assessment of Public Comment
The Commission received public comments that are included in the record of its duly noticed legislative rulemaking public hearing held on January 21, 2014. The executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (“RMTC”) testified that the corticosteroids dexamethasone and prednisolone can be effectively regulated with thresholds to prevent the drugs from being pharmacologically active on race day, but other corticosteroids may persist for much longer when administered systemically. In its written materials for the public hearing, RMTC expressed concern that smaller doses of these drugs might be appropriate therapy within a day or two of racing. The Jockey Club submitted several letters following the public comment period in support of the nationally proposed thresholds and withdrawal times, and suggesting that the Commission do away with restricted time periods.
This amendment is designed only to restrict which corticosteroids may be used systemically until five days before racing, rather than at least seven days before racing as provided by the Commission’s “catch-all” rule, not to change the restricted time period for such treatments. The Commission amended its restricted time periods for systemic (non-joint) administrations of corticosteroids from 48 hours to five days before a horse’s next race on December 26, 2013, as recommended by the New York Task Force on Racehorse Health and Safety. This amendment was identified as necessary for the health and safety of the equine and human athletes and to provide clear guidance as to when administration should be discontinued for testing purposes.
A further assessment of the public comments is provided in the following official Fact Finding in regard to this legislative rulemaking proposal that the Commission, based on decades of institutional knowledge and close supervision of thoroughbred horse racing in New York, the veterinary expertise of Equine Medical Director Scott Palmer, D.V.M., and consultation with internationally-renowned equine pharmacologist, toxicologist, and equine practices scientific consultant, George A. Maylin, D.V.M., M.S., Ph.D, made on November 24, 2014.
Agency Finding # 7: The following corticosteroids are sufficient to provide good veterinary care to a Thoroughbred race horse close to race day, when a veterinarian has determined there is a therapeutic value in treating the horse with a systemic administration of such a corticosteroid, and the pharmacology of such drugs has been sufficiently studied to permit the Commission to assess and control their use by means of laboratory tests. These are the only two corticosteroids for which such findings currently can be made and that are the subject of a national movement toward more uniformity. The Commission finds that it is reasonable to limit the corticosteroids that may be used within seven days before a horse’s next race to the systemic use of these corticosteroids:
