Judge James Chalfant of the Superior Court for the District of Los Angeles denied a March 9 stay request that may have cleared the way for Dr. Jeff Blea to resume his duties as the equine medical director of the California Board of Horse Racing.
Blea, placed on administrative leave this winter after having her veterinary license temporarily suspended by the California Veterinary Medical Council, assumed the position of equine medical director for CHRB last summer. after Dr. Rick Arthur retired. Blea was formerly a racetrack veterinarian in Southern California.
Along with Dr Vince Baker and Dr Sarah Graybill Jones, Blea was one of three equine veterinarians to receive a VMB complaint late last year. Other vets don’t have an emergency license hearing like Blea did.
During Blea’s provisional suspension earlier this year, judge Nana Chin cited Blea for a number of violations, among them, that he prescribed and administered drugs to horses “without testing or diagnosis by documents” during his private practice. She called the behavior “negligible” and “dangerous to the health, safety and welfare of the public.”
The CHRB equine medical director serves in an administrative, managerial role and Blea has shown no desire to return to her previous role as a racecourse practicing veterinarian.
Writing to the court ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, Rob Bonita, the attorney general for California, and Michael Yi, the deputy attorney general, argued in court documents that no stay was allowed, even under review. Blea’s EMD location.
“In this role, (Blea) has control and influence over the enforcement and investigation of drug testing programs and drug violations, including those committed by him,” they wrote. We are deemed to have violated it.” “His involvement alone will compromise the integrity of drug testing programs, their investigations, findings and outcomes due to unquestionable conflicts of interest. Public trust. they will decrease.”
After the temporary suspension of his license, the CHRB initially hoped Blea could continue as chief equine medical officer without it, but that didn’t materialize.
Since being placed on leave, some of Blea’s duties have been carried out by the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and from within the CHRB, said CHRB executive director Scott Chaney. UC Davis officially uses Blea and provides its services to the regulator.
Chaney calls the current setup a “patchwork attempt, certainly not ideal.”
In a ruling published online on Wednesday, Chalfant concluded that Blea had not presented “evidence of irreparable harm and did not show that allowing a stay would not be contrary to the public interest.” add.”
“We’re very disappointed by today’s decision, it’s not entirely unexpected,” Chaney said. “State agencies give great respect when they file the charges, and the Veterinary Health Commission has been given that weight. But obviously we still hope that when we have a session hearing on the basic charges that he will be exonerated.”
Following Wednesday’s ruling, Chaney said the CHRB would consider whether to file the lawsuit on its own in a “decision that we will make in the next few days.”
There is an April 7 Trial Setup Conference scheduled in Superior Court, and Blea’s attorney, George Wallace, has speculated that a court date may come two or three months later. He said the veterinary health panel’s date of charges would likely be set “within a very short time”.
