Lasix ban in Fl

[ides of ice]

Here is the Florida Horseman's view:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... semide-ban

[Mahubah]

An 80% reduction in epistaxis sounds impressive, but what is the raw number of horses that were showing visible bleeding to start with? An 80% reduction from 5000 actual cases would be one thing; 80% of 50 would be another. Also, the article conflates cases in which the horse suffered life-threatening or life-ending EIPH with horses that had visible bleeding at the nostrils but were not necessarily otherwise distressed as if both outcomes were equally serious. I suspect the number of the former was far less than the number of the latter. Another unknown here is how many horses that experience epistaxis do so because of respiratory infections, exposure to respiratory irritants, lack of general fitness or other conditions that need more attention than a dose of furosemide. Since horses can and do bleed through Lasix, I'd also like to know what the reduction in EIPH-related deaths was, if any. There may be good reasons for continuing race-day furosemide, but the information provided by this article was far too sketchy to be of much use in making an honest assessment of the issue.