HB 5133

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	revising provisions for implementation by the division of
11	medication levels; providing an effective date.
12
13	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15	Section 1.  Subsections (7) through (17) of section
16	550.2415, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
17	550.2415  Racing of animals under certain conditions
18	prohibited; penalties; exceptions.--
19	(7)  All moneys recovered for violations of this section
20	shall be kept in a separate fund to be deposited into the Pari-
21	mutuel Wagering Trust Fund and shall be used for research
22	relating to the medication of racing animals. Such recovered
23	moneys shall be supervised and used by the division to contract
24	with a reputable college or school of veterinary medicine or its
25	designee in accordance with this subsection.
26	(7)(8)  Under no circumstances may any medication be
27	administered closer than 24 hours prior to the officially
28	scheduled post time of a race except as provided for in this
29	section.
30	(a)  The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for
31	the use of furosemide to treat exercise-induced pulmonary
32	hemorrhage.
33	(b)  The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for
34	the use of prednisolone sodium succinate, but under no
35	circumstances may furosemide or prednisolone sodium succinate be
36	administered closer than 4 hours prior to the officially
37	scheduled post time for the race.
38	(c)  The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for
39	the use of phenylbutazone and synthetic corticosteroids; in no
40	case, except as provided in paragraph (b), shall these
41	substances be given closer than 24 hours prior to the officially
42	scheduled post time of a race. Oral corticosteroids are
43	prohibited except when prescribed by a licensed veterinarian and
44	reported to the division on forms prescribed by the division.
45	(d)  Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to
46	prohibit the use of vitamins, minerals, or naturally occurring
47	substances so long as none exceeds the normal physiological
48	concentration in a race-day race day specimen.
49	(e)  The division may, by rule, establish acceptable levels
50	of permitted medications and shall select the appropriate
51	biological specimens by which the administration of permitted
52	medication is monitored.
53	(8)(9)(a)  Under no circumstances may any medication be
54	administered within 24 hours before the officially scheduled
55	post time of the race except as provided in this section.
56	(b)  As an exception to this section, if the division first
57	determines that the use of furosemide, phenylbutazone, or
58	prednisolone sodium succinate in horses is in the best interest
59	of racing, the division may adopt rules allowing such use. Any
60	rules allowing the use of furosemide, phenylbutazone, or
61	prednisolone sodium succinate in racing must set the conditions
62	for such use. Under no circumstances may a rule be adopted which
63	allows the administration of furosemide or prednisolone sodium
64	succinate within 4 hours before the officially scheduled post
65	time for the race. Under no circumstances may a rule be adopted
66	which allows the administration of phenylbutazone or any other
67	synthetic corticosteroid within 24 hours before the officially
68	scheduled post time for the race. Any administration of
69	synthetic corticosteroids is limited to parenteral routes. Oral
70	administration of synthetic corticosteroids is expressly
71	prohibited. If this paragraph is unconstitutional, it is
72	severable from the remainder of this section.
73	(c)  The division shall, by rule, establish acceptable
74	levels of permitted medications and shall select the appropriate
75	biological specimen by which the administration of permitted
76	medications is monitored.
77	(9)(10)(a)  The division may conduct a postmortem
78	examination of any animal that is injured at a permitted
79	racetrack while in training or in competition and that
80	subsequently expires or is destroyed. The division may conduct a
81	postmortem examination of any animal that expires while housed
82	at a permitted racetrack, association compound, or licensed
83	kennel or farm. Trainers and owners shall be requested to comply
84	with this paragraph as a condition of licensure.
85	(b)  The division may take possession of the animal upon
86	death for postmortem examination. The division may submit blood,
87	urine, other bodily fluid specimens, or other tissue specimens
88	collected during a postmortem examination for testing by the
89	division laboratory or its designee. Upon completion of the
90	postmortem examination, the carcass must be returned to the
91	owner or disposed of at the owner's option.
92	(10)(11)  The presence of a prohibited substance in an
93	animal, found by the division laboratory in a bodily fluid
94	specimen collected during the postmortem examination of the
95	animal, which breaks down during a race constitutes a violation
96	of this section.
97	(11)(12)  The cost of postmortem examinations, testing, and
98	disposal must be borne by the division.
99	(12)(13)  The division shall adopt rules to implement this
100	section. The rules may include a classification system for
101	prohibited substances and a corresponding penalty schedule for
102	violations.
103	(13)(14)  Except as specifically modified by statute or by
104	rules of the division, the Uniform Classification Guidelines for
105	Foreign Substances, revised February 14, 1995, as promulgated by
106	the Association of Racing Commissioners International, Inc., is
107	hereby adopted by reference as the uniform classification system
108	for class IV and V medications.
109	(14)(15)  The division shall utilize only the thin layer
110	chromatography (TLC) screening process to test for the presence
111	of class IV and V medications in samples taken from racehorses
112	except when thresholds of a class IV or class V medication have
113	been established and are enforced by rule. Once a sample has
114	been identified as suspicious for a class IV or class V
115	medication by the TLC screening process, the sample will be sent
116	for confirmation by and through additional testing methods. All
117	other medications not classified by rule as a class IV or class
118	V agent shall be subject to all forms of testing available to
119	the division.
120	(15)(16)  The division may shall implement by rule
121	medication levels recommended finalized by the University of
122	Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. developed pursuant to
123	the Pharmacokinetic and Clearance Study Agreement by and between
124	the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
125	Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering and the University of Florida
126	College of Veterinary Medicine. Research on a drug level is
127	finalized when The University of Florida College of Veterinary
128	Medicine may provide provides written notification to the
129	division that it has completed its research or review on a
130	particular drug pursuant to the agreement and when the College
131	of Veterinary Medicine has completed provides a final report of
132	its findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the division.
133	(16)(17)  The testing medium for phenylbutazone in horses
134	shall be serum, and the division may collect up to six full 15-
135	milliliter blood tubes for each horse being sampled.
136	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.

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