Columbus, OH – On Monday (Nov. 17), the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Committee announced a proposed new minimum level for the banned substance Metformin more than a year after the U.S. Trotting Association’s Harness Racing Medication Collaborative’s (HRMC) recommendation of a “no effect threshold of five (5) nanograms per milliliter, (5ng/mL) in plasma was incorporated into USTA rules.
The new minimum reporting level (MRL) for Metformin proposed by the ADMC is 4 nanograms per milliliter in blood.
“The United States Trotting Association is proud of the work of its HRMC committee members in leading the way in setting a reasonable threshold for inadvertent contaminants from drugs widely in use by humans and thereby protecting innocent horsemen from being unfairly accused and penalized of wrongdoing,” said HRMC Chairman Joseph Faraldo. “The committee will continue in its quest to secure integrity in racing by establishing medication rules that are balanced so as to protect the horse, the horsemen, the betting public and the industry as a whole based upon scientific data.”
In August 2024, the HRMC reviewed a number of peer-reviewed articles setting forth scientifically based recommendations for sensible “no effect thresholds and irrelevant plasma concentrations” for a number of medications, including the human diabetes drug Metformin (Glucophage®).
After review and consideration by HRMC and on a motion made by USTA Director Dr. Andy Roberts, it was unanimously adopted establishing “an irrelevant plasma concentration” and “no effect threshold” for Metformin at five (5) nanograms per milliliter, (5ng/mL) in plasma.
The need for such consideration by HRMC’s esteemed committee members was a concern that Metformin is a medication extensively used in human medicine and was easily passed, unchanged from humans’ ingestion, and likely to cause an inadvertent contaminant in horses.
Subsequent to the Committee action the 5ng/mL recommendation of HRMC on Metformin was incorporated in the USTA rules as the “no effect threshold” for use in harness racing.
This week, more that a year after this action was taken by the USTA, HISA and its enforcement arm, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), upon the recommendation of its Anti-Doping and Medication Control Committee (ADMC), is following the lead of the HRMC by proposing a similar “no effect threshold” and “irrelevant plasma concentration” level threshold for Metformin in the governance of Thoroughbred racing.
During its independent review of Metformin, HIWU has stayed the prosecution of all unresolved and new cases involving potential positive tests for Metformin, subject to its overdue study, and intends to modify its regulations soon after receiving public comment.