Arthur Accuses Vet Med Board of 'Regulatory Extortion'

At the quarterly California Veterinary Medical Board (VMB) meeting Wednesday, the board acknowledged that yawning practical and philosophical differences between the agency and the state's equine practitioners urgently need to be addressed.

According to Richard Sullivan, chair of the VMB's Multidisciplinary Advisory Committee, this disconnect concerns approaches to record keeping and the Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR), calling efforts to bridge this divide as “a huge task, but a very necessary one.”

During the public comment period at the start of the meeting, former California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director Rick Arthur made a series of incendiary claims about the veterinary medical board's handling of the cases being brought against backstretch veterinarians in California, describing the board's actions as “regulatory extortion.”

Arthur's claims stem from the VMB's controversial move earlier this year to temporarily suspend the license of Jeff Blea, who succeeded Arthur as CHRB equine medical director.

Last month, the VMB lifted that suspension. In his settlement with the board, Blea agreed to continuing education classes in record keeping, a remittance to the VMB of $131,464 for the investigation costs and a three-year probationary period.

The VMB has ongoing cases against at least nine other backstretch veterinarians in California, and the nature of some of the accusations–often identical in nature to those leveled against Blea–reveal a yawning schism between the veterinary board and the CHRB concerning approaches to standard equine veterinary care.

The main areas of difference–at least where the CHRB is concerned–surrounds the use of what the VMB terms misbranded drugs like Thyro-L, non-FDA approved compounded drugs and the correct nature of the VCPR. More broadly, the disconnect also ensnares the prophylactic use of medications and record keeping differences between small and large animal veterinarians.

To address these differences, the VMB has assembled a two-person Equine Practice Subcommittee tasked with researching equine practice regulations and statutes, taking input from relevant stakeholders and making recommendations to the board.

In a brief update on the equine practice subcommittee's work to date, Sullivan concentrated on only two of the various bones of contention.

The VMB's statutes on medical records is “very prescriptive,” admitted Sullivan. “Especially compared to other states, and even to other medical professions within our state,” he added.

“And we may have to further define the VCPR to distinguish the difference between patient-cenered cases and client-centred cases,” said Sullivan.

Over the past few weeks, the equine practice subcommittee has met with VMB enforcement staff, the California Veterinary Medical Association, the CHRB and the UC Davis Veterinary Medical School, said Sullivan, who added that the subcommittee's work “is just beginning.”

During public comment at the start of the meeting, Arthur armed his allotted three-minutes with a fusillade of barbed spears directed towards the VMB's regulatory inroads into backstretch veterinary practice.

“I've spoken before to this Board about what are clearly politically motivated attacks on equine veterinarians including some of the leading, most highly respected veterinarians in the country. Some are veterinarians who have advanced high-quality veterinary care much more than any of you associated with CVMB will ever hope to accomplish,” said Arthur.

“This Board's actions are nothing short of regulatory extortion. The irony in all this is that racetrack veterinarians know their patients better than most any other veterinary practitioner,” Arthur added.

Arthur called on a variety of state political figures and regulatory bodies–including California Governor Gavin Newsom, the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, the Department of Consumer Affairs or the state legislature–to investigate the VMB's “regulatory abuse by an ambitious and misguided staff,” saying that he was “working” to have that happen.

“There will come a time when each of you, particularly the veterinary professionals on the board, will need to face your failure to lead,” Arthur added. “I am aware that culturally, state government is loath to admit they screwed up, but this transgression by CVMB should have been resolved a long time ago. Shame on all of you.”