| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to research funded by pari-mutuel |
| 3 | wagering; amending s. 550.2415, F.S.; deleting provisions |
| 4 | for 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 | repealing s. 1011.93, F.S., relating to research and |
| 11 | development programs funded by moneys in the Pari-mutuel |
| 12 | Wagering Trust Fund; providing an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Subsections (7) through (17) of section |
| 17 | 550.2415, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 18 | 550.2415 Racing of animals under certain conditions |
| 19 | prohibited; penalties; exceptions.-- |
| 20 | (7) All moneys recovered for violations of this section |
| 21 | shall be kept in a separate fund to be deposited into the Pari- |
| 22 | mutuel Wagering Trust Fund and shall be used for research |
| 23 | relating to the medication of racing animals. Such recovered |
| 24 | moneys shall be supervised and used by the division to contract |
| 25 | with a reputable college or school of veterinary medicine or its |
| 26 | designee in accordance with this subsection. |
| 27 | (7)(8) Under no circumstances may any medication be |
| 28 | administered closer than 24 hours prior to the officially |
| 29 | scheduled post time of a race except as provided for in this |
| 30 | section. |
| 31 | (a) The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for |
| 32 | the use of furosemide to treat exercise-induced pulmonary |
| 33 | hemorrhage. |
| 34 | (b) The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for |
| 35 | the use of prednisolone sodium succinate, but under no |
| 36 | circumstances may furosemide or prednisolone sodium succinate be |
| 37 | administered closer than 4 hours prior to the officially |
| 38 | scheduled post time for the race. |
| 39 | (c) The division shall adopt rules setting conditions for |
| 40 | the use of phenylbutazone and synthetic corticosteroids; in no |
| 41 | case, except as provided in paragraph (b), shall these |
| 42 | substances be given closer than 24 hours prior to the officially |
| 43 | scheduled post time of a race. Oral corticosteroids are |
| 44 | prohibited except when prescribed by a licensed veterinarian and |
| 45 | reported to the division on forms prescribed by the division. |
| 46 | (d) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to |
| 47 | prohibit the use of vitamins, minerals, or naturally occurring |
| 48 | substances so long as none exceeds the normal physiological |
| 49 | concentration in a race-day race day specimen. |
| 50 | (e) The division may, by rule, establish acceptable levels |
| 51 | of permitted medications and shall select the appropriate |
| 52 | biological specimens by which the administration of permitted |
| 53 | medication is monitored. |
| 54 | (8)(9)(a) Under no circumstances may any medication be |
| 55 | administered within 24 hours before the officially scheduled |
| 56 | post time of the race except as provided in this section. |
| 57 | (b) As an exception to this section, if the division first |
| 58 | determines that the use of furosemide, phenylbutazone, or |
| 59 | prednisolone sodium succinate in horses is in the best interest |
| 60 | of racing, the division may adopt rules allowing such use. Any |
| 61 | rules allowing the use of furosemide, phenylbutazone, or |
| 62 | prednisolone sodium succinate in racing must set the conditions |
| 63 | for such use. Under no circumstances may a rule be adopted which |
| 64 | allows the administration of furosemide or prednisolone sodium |
| 65 | succinate within 4 hours before the officially scheduled post |
| 66 | time for the race. Under no circumstances may a rule be adopted |
| 67 | which allows the administration of phenylbutazone or any other |
| 68 | synthetic corticosteroid within 24 hours before the officially |
| 69 | scheduled post time for the race. Any administration of |
| 70 | synthetic corticosteroids is limited to parenteral routes. Oral |
| 71 | administration of synthetic corticosteroids is expressly |
| 72 | prohibited. If this paragraph is unconstitutional, it is |
| 73 | severable from the remainder of this section. |
| 74 | (c) The division shall, by rule, establish acceptable |
| 75 | levels of permitted medications and shall select the appropriate |
| 76 | biological specimen by which the administration of permitted |
| 77 | medications is monitored. |
| 78 | (9)(10)(a) The division may conduct a postmortem |
| 79 | examination of any animal that is injured at a permitted |
| 80 | racetrack while in training or in competition and that |
| 81 | subsequently expires or is destroyed. The division may conduct a |
| 82 | postmortem examination of any animal that expires while housed |
| 83 | at a permitted racetrack, association compound, or licensed |
| 84 | kennel or farm. Trainers and owners shall be requested to comply |
| 85 | with this paragraph as a condition of licensure. |
| 86 | (b) The division may take possession of the animal upon |
| 87 | death for postmortem examination. The division may submit blood, |
| 88 | urine, other bodily fluid specimens, or other tissue specimens |
| 89 | collected during a postmortem examination for testing by the |
| 90 | division laboratory or its designee. Upon completion of the |
| 91 | postmortem examination, the carcass must be returned to the |
| 92 | owner or disposed of at the owner's option. |
| 93 | (10)(11) The presence of a prohibited substance in an |
| 94 | animal, found by the division laboratory in a bodily fluid |
| 95 | specimen collected during the postmortem examination of the |
| 96 | animal, which breaks down during a race constitutes a violation |
| 97 | of this section. |
| 98 | (11)(12) The cost of postmortem examinations, testing, and |
| 99 | disposal must be borne by the division. |
| 100 | (12)(13) The division shall adopt rules to implement this |
| 101 | section. The rules may include a classification system for |
| 102 | prohibited substances and a corresponding penalty schedule for |
| 103 | violations. |
| 104 | (13)(14) Except as specifically modified by statute or by |
| 105 | rules of the division, the Uniform Classification Guidelines for |
| 106 | Foreign Substances, revised February 14, 1995, as promulgated by |
| 107 | the Association of Racing Commissioners International, Inc., is |
| 108 | hereby adopted by reference as the uniform classification system |
| 109 | for class IV and V medications. |
| 110 | (14)(15) The division shall utilize only the thin layer |
| 111 | chromatography (TLC) screening process to test for the presence |
| 112 | of class IV and V medications in samples taken from racehorses |
| 113 | except when thresholds of a class IV or class V medication have |
| 114 | been established and are enforced by rule. Once a sample has |
| 115 | been identified as suspicious for a class IV or class V |
| 116 | medication by the TLC screening process, the sample will be sent |
| 117 | for confirmation by and through additional testing methods. All |
| 118 | other medications not classified by rule as a class IV or class |
| 119 | V agent shall be subject to all forms of testing available to |
| 120 | the division. |
| 121 | (16) The division shall implement by rule medication |
| 122 | levels finalized by the University of Florida developed pursuant |
| 123 | to the Pharmacokinetic and Clearance Study Agreement by and |
| 124 | between the Florida Department of Business and Professional |
| 125 | Regulation Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering and the University |
| 126 | of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. Research on a drug |
| 127 | level is finalized when the University of Florida College of |
| 128 | Veterinary Medicine provides written notification to the |
| 129 | division that it has completed its research on a particular drug |
| 130 | pursuant to the agreement and when the College of Veterinary |
| 131 | Medicine provides a final report of its findings, conclusions, |
| 132 | and recommendations to the division. |
| 133 | (15)(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. Section 1011.93, Florida Statutes, is repealed. |
| 137 | Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |