diabetes medication

With UC Davis-Commissioned Study Showing that Metformin Positives Can be a Result of Contamination, Jonathan Wong's Team Weighing Legal Options

A study done by the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California-Davis has revealed that a racehorse is likely to show a positive test result for metformin if its groom is taking the diabetes medication and urinates in the horse's stall. After a rash of metformin positives in 2024, anecdotal information surfaced that in many of these cases their grooms handling the horses had been on the drug. Metformin is used to manage blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. With the uncertainty over the metformin...

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A Diabetes Drug's Outsized, Contested Role in Horse Racing's Anti-Doping Crusade

Trainer Mike Lauer is now a month past serving what he believes was an unjust 75-day suspension because a Thoroughbred under his care at Horseshoe Indianapolis tested positive last summer for metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes in people. With more 20 million patients taking it, metformin ranks as the nation's third-most-prescribed human medicine, according to the consumer healthcare website Healthgrades. Before Lauer's case made it to an official arbitration hearing, the 72-year-old conditioner with five decades of licensure was able to present enough evidence to the Horseracing Integrity...

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Wong Provisionally Suspended After B Sample Confirmation

Trainer Jonathan Wong has been provisionally suspended after being alerted late Wednesday that the B Sample confirmed the presence of Metformin in a post-race test taken from his trainee, Heaven and Earth (Gormley). Heaven and Earth broke her maiden at Indiana Grand June 1 but subsequently tested positive for the prescription drug Metformin, a type 2 diabetes treatment classified as a banned substance by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA). During a conference call Thursday morning before representatives from the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) and a judge,...

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Wesley Ward Suspended and Fined by KY Stewards

Trainer Wesley Ward has been suspended 30 days and fined $500 as a result of Averly Jane (Midshipman) testing positive for the diabetes medication metformin after winning the Kentucky Juvenile S. at Churchill Downs on Apr. 28 last year, according to a recent Kentucky stewards ruling. Fifteen of those 30 days have been stayed, however, due to Ward's overall record and number of violations, and on condition that the trainer receives no Class A or Class B medication violations over the next year. Ward will serve the other 15 days...

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