The Problem in the Horse Racing World With Drug Compounds Continues-GTO Accelerator and SK360

Delaware Park: Trainer's syringes had active ingredient in Cialis

By Matt Hegarty

The substances found in the Delaware Park barn of Donald Roberson that led to the trainer receiving a two-year suspension were compounded drugs, one of which contained the active ingredient in Cialis and the other containing a drug that may have been used in an attempt to increase a horse’s stamina, according to drug-testing officials and chemists.

The substances were found in loaded syringes when Roberson’s barn at Delaware Park was searched July 13. One of the substances was labeled “GTO Accelerator,” and the other was labeled “SK360.” Manufacturers of compounded veterinary products often give their products quirky names and many times do not list the ingredients.

After being forwarded to the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, the substances were sent to the HFL Sports Science Lab in Lexington, Ky., for analysis. The substance labeled “GTO Accelerator” contained dichloroacetic acid, according to the RMTC, while the substance labeled “SK360” contained tadalafil, which is marketed under the trade name Cialis to improve blood flow in humans and induce erections.

A number of online marketers advertise tadalafil pills and similar drugs for horses, including Cialis’s competitor, Viagra. The class of drugs are known as PDE5 inhibitors. It is unlikely that the drugs have any effect on racehorses, officials say, but they are illegal to administer, regardless of their efficacy.

“Some PDE5-type inhibitors have been researched for their potential to decrease lung capillary pressure in horses and thereby possibly decrease the likelihood of bleeding into the lungs,” said Dr. Dionne Benson, the executive director of the RMTC, in a statement. “These substances are sometimes administered on race day as adjunct bleeder medications. The research has shown, however, that the dose required to produce an effect cannot be maintained.”

Dichloroacetic acid, meanwhile, can prevent the formation of lactic acid, the chemical that builds up in fatigued muscles. Many trainers have experimented with substances to prevent the buildup of lactic acid, with the goal of increasing a horse’s stamina in a process called bicarbonate loading. To combat those activities, horses in many jurisdictions are tested for total carbon dioxide (TCO2) in the blood prior to running.

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American Horse Daily: Know What You Are Giving Your Horse

February 14, 2013

To safeguard horse health, horse owners should be wary of unapproved drugs.

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American Horse Daily: Consider the Source

American Horse Daily has an article today, September 27, 2012, entitled Consider the Source, When you're seeking horse health information, go to a reliable source.  To read the entire article click here.  

New York Times Article: At the Track, Racing Economics Collide With Veterinarians’ Oath

Horse-racing veterinarians are both doctor and drugstore; the more drugs they prescribe, the more money they make.  To read article click here  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/us/at-the-track-racing-economics-collide-with-veterinarians-oath.html?smid=pl-share

Horse racing: Doping detection stays a neck ahead

Whilst the eyes of the world may currently be focused on the Olympics, human sport is not the only area where drug testing is routinely carried out.

Horse racing is a massive world-wide industry, and regular testing is essential to maintain its integrity.

As with human sport, the authorities constantly need to develop methodologies to detect new compounds that drug cheats are using or may start to use.

Read more ...

Horse deaths on race tracks not uncommon

The deaths of three horses during the production of the television drama "Luck" attracted headlines about the care of animals on TV sets.
But the death of horses on race tracks is not uncommon. Horses often break bones during races and later receive a lethal injection. To read the remainder of this article, click here.

Big Purses, Sore Horses and Death: Article Suggests Drugs Administrated Prior To Race Are Numerous

Large payouts to owners make it profitable for owners to field thoroughbreds that are past their prime, sometimes with fatal results. To read this article click here.

Mangled Horses, Maimed Jockeys: Article Suggest Illegal Doping often occurs on private farms before horses are shipped to the track. Few states can legally test horses there.

The new economics of horse racing are making an always-dangerous game even more so, as lax oversight puts animal and rider at risk. To read the rest of this article, click here.

Compounding Drugs for Horses

From Equus Magazine

Who Makes the Drugs Your Horse Takes?

By Joseph Rettone, DVM

Where do the drugs that you give your horse come from? Unless you've asked your veterinarian or you've carefully scrutinized the label affixed to the bottle or box, you're probably not aware of the name and location of the firm that manufactured the product. After all, as long as the preparation produces the desired effect to support your horse's health and well-being, it hardly seems essential for you to know much more than how often the drug should be administered and in what amount. Nevertheless, learning just how a pharmaceutical is made and by whom can save you from giving your horse ineffective or even dangerous medications.Compounding drug pharmacies provide a valuable service to the equine community, but it's wise to become familiar with their credentials and procedures.

Brand-name and generic drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are supplied to veterinarians by the manufacturers, who must comply with strict regulations regarding product safety, efficacy and the manufacturing process. As a result, consumers who use pharmaceuticals that are FDA approved generally are confident of the products' drug content and quality.

In some cases, however, there is no FDA-approved preparation readily available or conveniently formulated to treat a horse--and that's where the services of a compounding pharmacy come in. For example, if a veterinarian wants to administer a particular drug intravenously but only the tablet version has been approved by the FDA, he may ask a compounding pharmacy to produce the medication in intravenous form. In other instances, a compounding pharmacy can make a drug that is not FDA approved in any form. For example, a veterinarian may want to use an antibiotic that is reported to work on a particular infection in laboratory studies but which is not FDA approved for that particular purpose. The compounding pharmacy can use bulk raw chemicals and produce the preparation at the veterinarian's request.

In the absence of stringent government oversight, the use of compounded medications is bounded ethically by several stipulations that include, but are not limited to, the observance of the restrictions that govern the dispensing of prescription drugs, the need for the compounded preparation in the treatment of disease or to improve the welfare of the animal, and the lack of an FDA-approved product in a suitable dosage form to treat the condition.Compounding pharmacies provide an invaluable service because there are not enough FDA-approved drugs to treat all equine diseases. However, the pharmacies that produce compounded drugs are not held to the same standards that the manufacturers of FDA-approved drugs must meet.

Yet, even when these stipulations are satisfied, there is no guarantee that the formulation created by a compounding pharmacy is safe and effective. There are, however, some specific questions your veterinarian can ask to assure that a compounding pharmacy is doing its best for you and your horse.

Does the compounding pharmacy have a licensed pharmacist on staff? Some compounders do not have a pharmacist on staff, or they maintain only a loose association with a pharmacist. Pharmacists have the training, as well as the legal and ethical responsibility, to follow good compounding practices as prescribed by the practice of pharmacy and as outlined by state pharmacy boards. Through their training, pharmacists understand the issues of drug quality, strength, purity and stability, which are essential to the rational use of drugs. Your veterinarian can verify a pharmacist's name and license number with the appropriate state agency.

Are high-quality raw materials used? Obviously, the individual ingredients that go into a drug formulation must be of high quality for the resultant compounded product to be of high quality. When drugs are not FDA approved, there is no assurance that the raw materials are of acceptable quality. Raw materials used by reputable compounding pharmacies are accompanied by a valid certificate of analysis. A reputable compounding pharmacy will not hesitate to provide that information to veterinarians. At the least, a veterinarian can--and should--ask the compounder if the wholesaler of the raw materials is licensed or registered with the state pharmacy board.

What type of quality testing is performed? Ideally, each individual drug preparation would be quality tested before it was shipped to a veterinarian. However, this is impractical in many situations. At a minimum, a compounding pharmacy can test batches of any formulation that is produced regularly. Such analysis will detect any loss of quality of calculation errors.

How stable is the compounded drug? The nature of equine practice leads me to stress the importance of the stability of compounded products. Equine practitioners tend to work outdoors, so the medications that we administer to horses often are kept in uncontrolled climates, which can lead to the breakdown of unstable compounds. The compounding pharmacy should provide some storage instructions with the medication.

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FDA Statement on Compounding of Pergolide Products for Animal Use

March 16, 2012
On September 7, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) approved a new animal drug application (NADA) for a product containing pergolide mesylate (NADA 141-331) marketed under the trade name PRASCEND Tablets for the control of the clinical signs associated with Cushing’s Disease in horses.
In the past, veterinarians prescribed human pergolide products to treat Cushing’s Disease in horses under the “extralabel” use provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. However, in May 2007, the human pergolide products were removed from the market due to concerns about cardiac side effects in humans. At that time FDA stated that it would work with the sponsors of approved human products and others to ensure that pergolide remained available to treat Cushing’s Syndrome in horses until a new animal drug application was approved for that use. FDA stated that this would include, among other things, exercising enforcement discretion as appropriate over the pharmacy compounding of pergolide for use in animals. However, because FDA has approved NADA 141-331, the conditions under which the Agency was exercising enforcement discretion no longer exist.


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