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The EQIAS Lab, The General Counsel and the Conflicts of Interest Concerns
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) state that drug testing laboratories under their jurisdiction must be independent void of conflict of interests, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.
Former Horseracing Integrity and Safety Unit's (HIWU) general counsel Michelle Pujals worked as both a regulator and as a board director for the non-profit that purchased the lab responsible for testing, raising serious conflict of interest concerns.
Guadalupe Hayes-Mota, director of the bioethics program, explained that Pujals had a “fiduciary responsibility to the [SMRTL] nonprofit. So, she needs to act in the best interest of the nonprofit itself.”
As the general counsel for HIWU, however, “her responsibility is to uphold the standards” of the regulator, said Hayes-Mota.
“How could she actually have loyalties to both places?” said Hayes-Mota, describing it as a “strong conflict of interest.”
Guadalupe Hayes-Mota, director, bioethics, quoted by Thoroughbred Daily News.