By Dan Ross
The Racetrack Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) has afforded the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Lab (EACL) and the University of Illinois Chicago's (UIC) Analytical Forensic Toxicology Laboratory additional time in their efforts to seek reaccreditation from the organization.
News of the UIC Lab losing its RMTC accreditation broke in early September. The facility was initially issued a 60-day accreditation suspension period.
According to RMTC executive director Michael Hardy, the RMTC's executive committee approved an additional 60-day extension to the laboratory's suspension “to provide them ample opportunity to fully remediate any remaining non-compliances that they have.”
The full reasons behind the lab's initial accreditation suspension remains unclear. Dr. Mary Scollay and Ben Mosier, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit's (HIWU) chief of science and executive director respectively, explained in a September TDN Q&A that the laboratory had failed several external quality assurance samples.
Hardy said he was unable to expand upon the specific ongoing non-compliance issues that led to the 60-day extension period, other than to point to the organization's code of standards.
The 60-day extension will conclude at the end of January, “at which point, the status of their RMTC accreditation will be determined,” said Hardy.
The RMTC suspended the UK lab's accreditation back in March. HIWU and the University of Kentucky subsequently issued separate reports into multiple alleged management and operational failures at the lab under the leadership of its former director, Scott Stanley.
Stanley subsequently issued a response through his attorney to the allegations levelled against him, categorically denying them and claiming they were made without evidence. He also criticized the logistical challenges of running a lab under HIWU's regulatory oversight, including from the implementation of a new information management system, the increased workload, and from resource limitations.
Under the leadership of interim director Cynthia Cole, the UK Lab has spent months working to fix a series of operational and managerial issues in its efforts to regain RMTC accreditation, the deadline for which was the beginning of the month.
As a part of the RMTC's reaccreditation process, the lab was required to undergo an on-site assessment by an independent auditor. But that audit was delayed due to travel disruptions resulting from of the recent hurricanes in Florida, pushing a final determination back a few weeks.
That independent audit has since gone ahead, “and the materials from that audit have been submitted,” said Hardy, about the UK Lab. “That is under review right now. And the [Horserace Testing Laboratory Committee] should have enough information to make a determination on their status within a couple weeks.”
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