Blea Remains on Leave After License Suspension Upheld

Dr. Jeff Blea remains on administrative leave from his position as equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board after an administrative law judge upheld the suspension of his veterinary license following a Jan. 21 hearing. Judge Nana Chin, who initially suspended Blea's license in an emergency hearing Dec. 24, outlined her denial of Blea's reinstatement in a 15-page order posted Feb. 2 on the California Veterinary Medical Board website. In a ruling dated Jan. 28, Chin wrote that while Blea is not currently practicing veterinary medicine, this "does not ensure" public safety. Blea, in his first year as EMD for the CHRB, previously was one of Southern California's leading racetrack veterinarians. He was one of three equine veterinarians to receive VMB complaints in late December, along with Dr. Vince Baker and Dr. Sarah Graybill Jones. The other veterinarians did not have an emergency license hearing as Blea did. "As long as (Blea's) license to practice is active, he is free to return to the practice of veterinary medicine at any time," Chin wrote in her decision. "Permitting (Blea) to practice and engage in veterinary medicine poses a risk of injury to the public health, safety, and welfare." Blea has not indicated a desire to return to his prior role as a practicing racetrack veterinarian. He took the EMD position with the CHRB last summer. Following the emergency license hearing action, the CHRB initially was hopeful Blea could continue as EMD without his veterinary license, but that did not materialize. In her ruling, Chin cited Blea for several infractions, among them that he prescribed and administered medications to horses "without documented examinations or diagnoses" during his time in private practice. She said the conduct was "negligent, unprofessional, and poses a danger to the public health, safety, and welfare." In an email to BloodHorse, Blea's attorney, George Wallace, called Chin's order "disappointing and, to my way of thinking, incorrect on the facts and the law. "All of the charges are in dispute, and there will be a vigorous defense presented on the merits of the case," Wallace wrote, referring to a yet-to-be-scheduled full evidentiary hearing. Wallace indicated that that hearing will take place remotely in the Office of Administrative Hearings in Los Angeles, Calif., not with Chin but with a different administrative law judge. Wallace added that the interim suspension is potentially reviewable by a petition to the Superior Court within 30 days, though a decision on whether to file such a petition is under review. With Blea on leave, the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, which formally employs Blea, "continues to fulfill its duties to provide equine medical director services for the CHRB," UC Davis spokesperson Amy Quinton wrote. The action against Blea comes when UC Davis and the CHRB are conducting an inquiry into the death of Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) first-place finisher Medina Spirit, a Bob Baffert trainee who collapsed and died following a workout at Santa Anita Park in December. Testing and necropsy findings are expected this month. Blea initially was to have played a key role overseeing those findings, though Dr. John Pascoe, executive associate dean of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, will now do so. Along with public announcements of support from some California horsemen and fellow veterinarians, the CHRB has continued to back Blea. The regulator issued a Jan. 26 statement that "commissioners are further committed to pursue appropriate legal avenues to protect the authority of the board, as well as preserve the contract with UC Davis."