MIAMI, (Reuters) – A Florida pharmacy said yesterday it had incorrectly mixed a medication given to 21 polo horses that died this week, as investigators awaited the result of toxicology tests that could reveal what killed them.
The horses, which belonged to the Venezuelan Lechuza Caracas polo team, collapsed with respiratory problems at the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Wellington, Florida, on Sunday. Local police and the state’s Department of Agriculture launched an investigation to determine if a crime had been committed.
Franck’s Pharmacy of Ocala, Florida, said it had prepared a medication used to treat the 21 horses on the order of a veterinarian.
After the horses died, an internal investigation found “the strength of an ingredient in the medication was incorrect,” Franck’s chief operations officer Jennifer Beckett said in a statement. She did not name the medication or the ingredient.
“We extend our most sincere condolences to the horses’ owners, the Lechuza Polo team and the members of the United States Polo Association,” the statement said. “We share their grief and sadness.”
Lechuza’s team captain, Juan Martin Nero, told an Argentine newspaper that a vitamin supplement given to the horses probably caused their deaths.
The supplement, Biodyl, is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States.
