HB 5055

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to racing animal medication research;
3	amending s. 550.2415, F.S.; deleting provisions for
4	certain moneys to be used for research relating to the
5	medication of racing animals; deleting provisions relating
6	to the Pharmacokinetic and Clearance Study Agreement by
7	and between the Department of Business and Professional
8	Regulation Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering and the
9	University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine;
10	providing an effective date.
11
12	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14	Section 1.  Subsections (7) through (17) of section
15	550.2415, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
16	550.2415  Racing of animals under certain conditions
17	prohibited; penalties; exceptions.--
18	(7)  All moneys recovered for violations of this section
19	shall be kept in a separate fund to be deposited into the Pari-
20	mutuel Wagering Trust Fund and shall be used for research
21	relating to the medication of racing animals. Such recovered
22	moneys shall be supervised and used by the division to contract
23	with a reputable college or school of veterinary medicine or its
24	designee in accordance with this subsection.
25	(7)(8)  Under no circumstances may any medication be
26	administered closer than 24 hours prior to the officially
27	scheduled post time of a race except as provided for in this
28	section.
29	(a)  The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for
30	the use of furosemide to treat exercise-induced pulmonary
31	hemorrhage.
32	(b)  The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for
33	the use of prednisolone sodium succinate, but under no
34	circumstances may furosemide or prednisolone sodium succinate be
35	administered closer than 4 hours prior to the officially
36	scheduled post time for the race.
37	(c)  The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for
38	the use of phenylbutazone and synthetic corticosteroids; in no
39	case, except as provided in paragraph (b), shall these
40	substances be given closer than 24 hours prior to the officially
41	scheduled post time of a race. Oral corticosteroids are
42	prohibited except when prescribed by a licensed veterinarian and
43	reported to the division on forms prescribed by the division.
44	(d)  Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to
45	prohibit the use of vitamins, minerals, or naturally occurring
46	substances so long as none exceeds the normal physiological
47	concentration in a race-day race day specimen.
48	(e)  The division may, by rule, establish acceptable levels
49	of permitted medications and shall select the appropriate
50	biological specimens by which the administration of permitted
51	medication is monitored.
52	(8)(9)(a)  Under no circumstances may any medication be
53	administered within 24 hours before the officially scheduled
54	post time of the race except as provided in this section.
55	(b)  As an exception to this section, if the division first
56	determines that the use of furosemide, phenylbutazone, or
57	prednisolone sodium succinate in horses is in the best interest
58	of racing, the division may adopt rules allowing such use. Any
59	rules allowing the use of furosemide, phenylbutazone, or
60	prednisolone sodium succinate in racing must set the conditions
61	for such use. Under no circumstances may a rule be adopted which
62	allows the administration of furosemide or prednisolone sodium
63	succinate within 4 hours before the officially scheduled post
64	time for the race. Under no circumstances may a rule be adopted
65	which allows the administration of phenylbutazone or any other
66	synthetic corticosteroid within 24 hours before the officially
67	scheduled post time for the race. Any administration of
68	synthetic corticosteroids is limited to parenteral routes. Oral
69	administration of synthetic corticosteroids is expressly
70	prohibited. If this paragraph is unconstitutional, it is
71	severable from the remainder of this section.
72	(c)  The division shall, by rule, establish acceptable
73	levels of permitted medications and shall select the appropriate
74	biological specimen by which the administration of permitted
75	medications is monitored.
76	(9)(10)(a)  The division may conduct a postmortem
77	examination of any animal that is injured at a permitted
78	racetrack while in training or in competition and that
79	subsequently expires or is destroyed. The division may conduct a
80	postmortem examination of any animal that expires while housed
81	at a permitted racetrack, association compound, or licensed
82	kennel or farm. Trainers and owners shall be requested to comply
83	with this paragraph as a condition of licensure.
84	(b)  The division may take possession of the animal upon
85	death for postmortem examination. The division may submit blood,
86	urine, other bodily fluid specimens, or other tissue specimens
87	collected during a postmortem examination for testing by the
88	division laboratory or its designee. Upon completion of the
89	postmortem examination, the carcass must be returned to the
90	owner or disposed of at the owner's option.
91	(10)(11)  The presence of a prohibited substance in an
92	animal, found by the division laboratory in a bodily fluid
93	specimen collected during the postmortem examination of the
94	animal, which breaks down during a race constitutes a violation
95	of this section.
96	(11)(12)  The cost of postmortem examinations, testing, and
97	disposal must be borne by the division.
98	(12)(13)  The division shall adopt rules to implement this
99	section. The rules may include a classification system for
100	prohibited substances and a corresponding penalty schedule for
101	violations.
102	(13)(14)  Except as specifically modified by statute or by
103	rules of the division, the Uniform Classification Guidelines for
104	Foreign Substances, revised February 14, 1995, as promulgated by
105	the Association of Racing Commissioners International, Inc., is
106	hereby adopted by reference as the uniform classification system
107	for class IV and V medications.
108	(14)(15)  The division shall utilize only the thin layer
109	chromatography (TLC) screening process to test for the presence
110	of class IV and V medications in samples taken from racehorses
111	except when thresholds of a class IV or class V medication have
112	been established and are enforced by rule. Once a sample has
113	been identified as suspicious for a class IV or class V
114	medication by the TLC screening process, the sample will be sent
115	for confirmation by and through additional testing methods. All
116	other medications not classified by rule as a class IV or class
117	V agent shall be subject to all forms of testing available to
118	the division.
119	(16)  The division shall implement by rule medication
120	levels finalized by the University of Florida developed pursuant
121	to the Pharmacokinetic and Clearance Study Agreement by and
122	between the Florida Department of Business and Professional
123	Regulation Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering and the University
124	of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. Research on a drug
125	level is finalized when the University of Florida College of
126	Veterinary Medicine provides written notification to the
127	division that it has completed its research on a particular drug
128	pursuant to the agreement and when the College of Veterinary
129	Medicine provides a final report of its findings, conclusions,
130	and recommendations to the division.
131	(15)(17)  The testing medium for phenylbutazone in horses
132	shall be serum, and the division may collect up to six full 15-
133	milliliter blood tubes for each horse being sampled.
134	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.