Horse Supplement Problem with Pharmacy, Not Manufacturer

When the story first broke that 21 polo horses died of a tainted supplement, flashes of so-called dietary supplement contamination in human sports started crossing my mind. In this case, however, it is proving to be the quality control procedures of a compounding pharmacy, not a QC problem at a French supplement maker, that is to blame for the tragic loss of so many prized horses in one day.

The supplement at the center of the recent deaths of 21 polo horses at the U.S. Polo Chammpionships in Wellington, Fla., was compounded by a local pharmacy to mimic the formula in the French supplement Biodyl, which is not approved for veterinary use in the United States. Ocala, Fla.-based Franck's Pharmacy mixed vitamin B, potassium, magnesium and selenium. The pharmacy admitted one of the ingredients compounded for the Lechuza Caracas Polo team horses was mistakenly an incorrect dose, although they stopped short of naming which ingredient.

Apparently, use of compounding pharmacies to produce formulas similar to drugs or supplements not approved for use in the U.S. is a common practice, but experts have noted it is illegal for a pharmacy to make an exact replica of such unapproved formulas. Biodyl has been used for many years in Europe and South America, and the Venezuela-based Lechuza team often administered the product to its horses to address muscle fatigue and exhaustion before matches.

Despite the admission by Franck's Pharmacy, U.S. officials investigating the deaths would not confirm this reported cause of death, as their work on the case in not yet completed.