Methadone Deaths Tied to For-Profit Clinics Prompt Bills

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/methadone-deaths-tied-to-for-profit-clinics-prompt-bills.html

At least five state legislatures are considering bills to tighten oversight of methadone clinics after allegations that take-home doses of the drug are contributing to illegal street sales, misuse and deaths.

Measures in West Virginia, Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Maine, if passed, could increase costs or limit revenue for the nation’s largest methadone chains -- both of them backed by private equity firms: CRC Health Corp. is owned by Boston-based Bain Capital Partners LLC; and Colonial Management Group LP is in the portfolio of Warwick Group Inc. of New Canaan, Connecticut.

Police, prosecutors and state regulators have linked clinics operated by CRC and Colonial to doses of the synthetic narcotic that were diverted into black-market sales -- sometimes with deadly results.

The array of legislation reflects concerns that some for- profit clinics -- which distribute the synthetic narcotic to help patients beat addictions to heroin and other opiates -- don’t provide enough services, said Robert Lubran, director of pharmacologic therapies at the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

[Earth_First]

1. These programs also desperately need increased rehabilitation counseling...

My sister in law is in a methadone program, has been for nearly 5 years. Granted the family is thankful she is seeking treatment for a very risky lifestyle, many of us feel that the treatment program is an extension of her parole office, rather than compassionate, meaningful counseling. There is never talk about an end-date because it seems that most of the counselors have already decided that they expect a high percentage of relapse. So to me it seems more like the program is available as a lesser of two evils in their eyes...

I really hope that our situation is isolated, however I fear that we are not alone in our thought.

For anyone dealing with substance abuse with a closw friend or family member:

[Mopar151]

2. Methadone is no "miracle"

In NH, over-regulation of prescription pain meds has led to doctors prescribing methadone for severe/chronic pain. That can be a bit of a problem, as a small percentage of new users have a reaction in the first week or 2 - they just don't wake up!