From the Thoroughbred Daily News Tuesday (edited for brevity and clarity):
“Two racetrack veterinarians who are the principals of Maryland Veterinary Group (MVG) have been served with notices of violations and were given provisional suspensions that started Jan. 12 after Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) searches [on Sep 23] of that practice’s offices at Laurel Park and Delaware Park allegedly turned up ‘banned’ substances that, under HISA rules, are never to be found in any covered Thoroughbred or possessed on any HISA-regulated grounds.
“Dr. Nicholas Meittinis and Dr. Adam Lockard are both alleged to have violated HISA Rule 2215 (‘no Covered Person…shall compromise the welfare of a Covered Horse for competitive or commercial reasons’) and Rule 2271(a)(1) (‘use of physical or veterinary procedures to mask the effects or signs of injury so as to allow training or racing to the detriment of the Covered Horse’s health and welfare’).
“At Laurel, HIWU agents allegedly seized banned substances…. The inventory list included: ‘Carolina Gold’ (gamma aminobutyric acid) ‘AMP 20%’ (adenosine 5-monophosphate), ‘Osphos’ (bisphosphonate), albuterol tablets (banned if not administered via inhaler) and isoxsuprine. Multiple containers of banned anabolic-agent substances were also allegedly seized: Trenbolone, testosterone, testosterone cypionate, stanozolol and Winstrol-V.
“On the same date, Dr. Meittinis was present at MVG’s Delaware office when HIWU found and seized another banned substance, albuterol syrup. The notices of violation further stated that, ‘Displayed on the wall of MVG’s Delaware Park office during the inspection was the recipe for Steroid Paint.’ That recipe appeared to be comprised of banned and controlled substances, such as pitcher plant extract, ‘DMSO’ and ‘Dex.’
“The violation notices stated that, ‘On the date of the Delaware Park search, Dr. Meittinis’s vet vehicle was also searched on the backside, and HIWU found and seized another Banned Substance,’ which was allegedly pitcher plant extract. The violation notices stated that a follow-up search by HIWU Nov 20 at Laurel allegedly yielded additional jugs of topical pitcher plant extract and other allegedly banned substances….
“The violation notices also stated that additional substances seized from the searches are ‘currently being analyzed by laboratories to determine if they also contain Banned Substances.’ The violation notices stated that, ‘As described above, you and the veterinary practice under your control were found to be in possession of several current Banned Substances across multiple locations dedicated to the care and treatment of Covered Horses and on different dates, indicating a pattern of repeated and ongoing violations. Additionally, there is evidence that MVG dispensed Steroid Paint containing three Banned Substances to Covered Persons for use on Covered Horses since 2023….'”
Is this what they went to vet school for? Wretched human beings.
These people are despicable.
Posing as doctors of vetinary medicine while they are working to the detriment of their “patients” is beyond disgusting.
Unfortunately they are not alone. This will continue as long as racing exists.
Racing can never be reformed because its very foundation is the use, abuse and dumping of horses.
The Hippocratic Oath is from the Greek text. The point is that they are supposed to be ethical and to do no harm. There is much more to it, of course.
Two outstanding upholders of the Hypocritical Oath.
These two drug thugs posing as “doctors of veterinary medicine” should be put in jail for their crimes.
Can you imagine if they were put in jail…they could be writing their recipes for illegal substances on the jailhouse wall and boast about how bad they are, because it is clear that they are hardened drug traffickers.
Ask Elvis’s doctor. Ask Michael Jackson’s doctor. And my all-time favorite, may he rot in Hell – josef mengele.
It seems like the Oath they took to graduate and become a vet went ignored after the degree ink dried.
Is this what they went to vet school for? To turn exam rooms into drug dens and horses into lab rats? These aren’t “bad actors,” they’re professional liars in lab coats, stocking anabolic steroids, masking agents, and back-alley brews like “steroid paint” while pretending to practice medicine. They didn’t just bend the rules, they built a business model out of breaking them across multiple tracks over multiple years with the same cold, routine cynicism. Every syringe and jug they hid was a conscious decision to risk a horse’s body for someone else’s purse money. That’s abusing animals under the cover of a veterinary license. They don’t deserve suspensions. They deserve to be run out of the profession in disgrace and never allowed near a horse again. This is exactly the kind of rot that gives racing its reputation and proves yet again that some people will sell their soul and a horse’s for a paycheck.