The Kentucky Court of Appeals has overturned a four-year suspension handed to Rodney Stewart, DVM, for possession of cobra venom, stating that the regulation under which the veterinarian was disciplined was vague. Also, the three-judge panel in its March 15 ruling declined to reverse a lower court ruling on Stewart’s behalf dismissing a one-year suspension he was given for possession of two other drugs.

In September 2009, Stewart was suspended for four years for possession of three sealed vials of cobra venom, a substance used to kill pain, and suspended for one year for the possession of carbidopa and levodopa, both of which are used to treat Parkinson’s disease in humans. The substances were found during a June 22, 2007 search and seizure of items in a barn at the Keeneland training center occupied by trainer Patrick Biancone. Biancone was also suspended six months and then did not seek licensing for an additional six months before resuming his training career.

The regulatory body, then named the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, later voted unanimously to accept a hearing officer’s report upholding the suspensions.

The Court of Appeals agreed with arguments made by Stewart’s attorneys—Mike Meuser, Michelle Hurley, and Karen Murphy—that the regulations under which their client was suspended were vague, especially since the drug was then-legal for use in the Standardbred industry in Kentucky and it was not expressly prohibited for use in Thoroughbreds at the time of the raid on the Keeneland barn. Stewart treated both Standardbred and Thoroughbred horses