Via Dan Ross
According to Blea’s attorney, George Wallace, Jeff Blea, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), medical director of the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), has been placed on administrative leave by UC Davis. . The story was first reported by LA time.
The California Veterinary Medical Council announced last week that an emergency hearing has resulted in the temporary suspension of Blea’s veterinary license for a number of alleged crimes, including intentional use of ” dangerous drugs” for racing horses without prior examination, without diagnosis and without medical necessity.
The Veterinary Board also stated that Blea posed a “danger to public health, safety and welfare” as he oversaw the high-profile investigation into the death of Medina Spirit trained by Bob Baffert ( Protonico), the GI Kentucky Derby winner who collapsed and died after a scheduled practice session on December 6 at Santa Anita.
ONE TDN investigation However, the allegations against Blea have found a broad consensus among veterinary health professionals that violations are largely a matter of poor record keeping, rarely leading to license suspensions. .
Eric Peterson, former member of the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Council, told TDN if he was brought up on the same set of charges, he would offer to issue a “maximum” fine of $100.
“I was on the Kentucky vet board for 10 years. This will be minimal,” says Peterson. “We might not even penalize him for this.”
A formal hearing on the veterinary panel’s petition for the temporary suspension of Blea’s license is scheduled for the 21st of this month.
While the CHRB’s equine medical director’s role has historically not been contingent upon having an active veterinary license, CHRB responded to Blea’s emergency temporary suspension by appointing the vice-chancellor. UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, John Pascoe, to monitor the necrosis of Medina Spirit.
This, stated CHRB, “Satisfying VMB’s stated reason for filing a request for suspension and thereby requesting VMB to consider withdrawing.”
According to Scott Chaney, chief executive officer of CHRB, “if [Equine Medical Director] is on administrative leave, UC Davis will appoint a temporary person or persons to fill these statutory management roles of EMD, and we will amend our contract to reflect that. ”
The TDN has reached out to UC Davis’ Pascoe and is awaiting a response. Additional reports are pending.
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This story was posted in Top News and tagged California Horse Racing Board, california race, CHRB, Dr. Jeff Blea, Eric Peterson, Medina Spirit, UC Davis.
