Equine Medical Director Blea Placed on Administrative Leave by UC Davis

[Wandering Eyes]

Jeff Blea, California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director, has been placed on administrative leave by UC Davis–the dean of which appoints the equine medical director–pending a formal review of his veterinary license, according to Blea's attorney, George Wallace. The story was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The California Veterinary Medical Board last week announced that an emergency hearing had resulted in an interim suspension of Blea's veterinary license for a number of alleged offenses, including purportedly administering “dangerous drugs” to racehorses without a prior examination, without forming a diagnosis and without medical necessity.

The veterinary board also claims that Blea presents a “danger to public health, safety and welfare,” due to his oversight of the high-profile investigation into the death of the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit (Protonico), the GI Kentucky Derby winner who collapsed and died after a scheduled workout on Dec. 6 at Santa Anita.

A TDN investigation into the accusations leveled against Blea, however, found a broad consensus among veterinary medical experts that the infractions are largely matters of poor record-keeping which rarely, if ever, rise to the level of a suspended license.

Eric Peterson, former member of the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Board, told the TDN that had he been presented with the same set of accusations, he would have recommended issuing a fine of “at most” $100.

“I was on the Kentucky vet board for 10 years. This would be minimal,” Peterson said. “We might not even fine him for this.”

A formal hearing on the veterinary board's petition for an interim suspension of Blea's license is scheduled for the 21st of this month.

While the role of the CHRB's equine medical director has not historically been contingent upon having an active veterinary license, the CHRB responded to Blea's emergency interim suspension by bringing in the executive associate dean of UC Davis's School of Veterinary Medicine, John Pascoe, to oversee the necropsy of Medina Spirit.

This, the CHRB stated, “satisfies the VMB's stated reason for filing the temporary suspension petition and therefore requires it to consider its withdrawal.”

According to Scott Chaney, the CHRB executive director, “if the [Equine Medical Director] was on administrative leave, UC Davis would appoint an interim person or persons to fulfill these statutory regulatory roles of the EMD, and we would amend our contract to reflect that.”

The TDN has reached out to UC Davis's Pascoe and is awaiting a response. Additional reporting is pending.

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