The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) announced detection times for Metacam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug developed and manufactured by Boehringer-Ingelheim, used to relieve pain and inflammation in horses. Findings of studies on the use of intravenously or orally administered Meloxicam show the urine and plasma detection time as 72 hours. Metacam is the first COX-2 inhibitor on the FEI list of detection times which contains common medications administered out of competition and is listed on the FEI’s Clean Sport website. An outcome of the 2010 FEI Congress on NSAID and Medication Usage in the equine athlete was that there should be more access to detection times for COX-2 inhibitors. “We are committed to providing the tools to assist our athletes to adhere to the FEI’s equine anti-doping rules and will add further medication detection times over the coming 12 months,” says Graeme Cooke, director of veterinary department at the FEI. Detection time means the time taken for an active substance administered to a horse by a specified route and dosage to fall below a level that FEI-approved laboratories would declare a sample positive. These times may vary depending on dose and number of injection sites used. <Home>
