METHADONE PIPELINE SHUT DOWN

A husband-and-wife team of pharmacists has been ordered to shut down
a controversial methadone pipeline servicing 2,000 drug addicts across Ontario.

The Ontario College of Pharmacists, which issued the order yesterday,
is scrambling to find local pharmacists in a dozen cities and towns
to supply the patients before a March 13 deadline. On that day,
Kitchener-based pharmacists Wing and Sue Wong must stop shipping
boxfuls of medication to a chain of methadone clinics, called Ontario
Addiction Treatment Centres (OATC), where the drug is given out by
non-pharmacist clinic staffers. The clinics service 4,000 methadone
patients; the Wongs supply half of them with the potentially lethal drug.

The Wongs plan to go to court to challenge the order. In a statement
issued late yesterday, they claimed the college's order will have "a
devastating effect upon thousands of patients, many of whom will be
unable to obtain methadone from alternate sources. This is because
many ... patients live in remote or isolated areas which do not have
community pharmacies that dispense methadone. ..."

A recent Star investigation found that the college has been aware of
the shipping scheme since at least 2003, but has been slow to act.

"We are putting the patients first," said deputy college registrar
Della Croteau. "When we move to restrict a pharmacist's practice, we
must take care of the patients."

College officials believe the Wongs' pipeline is endangering
patients. Over the last two years, the Wongs have ignored several
college warnings requiring them to stop the practice.

College rules state that, for safety reasons, all drugs must be
dispensed to patients in person by licensed pharmacists in accredited
pharmacies. Part of a pharmacist's entitlement to payment for
dispensing methadone, according to college rules, involves not only
measuring out a patient's dosage but counselling him or her each day
and watching the patient ingest the narcotic drink.

If the Wongs don't comply with the order, the college could revoke
their licences. If they comply, they can still directly dispense
methadone in their three pharmacies.

In their statement, the Wongs said there is "no legal foundation" for
the orders from the college. "The manner in which methadone is
dispensed by Mr. and Mrs. Wong, and administered by the Ontario
Addiction Treatment Centres, is safe and effective. It involves
specially trained regulated health professionals at every step of the process."

Improper dispensing of methadone can have fatal consequences. An
Ottawa man died last year when an untrained staffer at an OATC clinic
accidentally gave him another person's dose, which was 10 times the
amount he could handle. The methadone in that clinic was shipped from
a Hanover pharmacy partly owned by the Wongs. In their statement, the
Wongs said neither was involved with dispensing medication in that
case. Several investigations, including one by the Ontario coroner's
office, are looking into the death.

Over the last five years, the Wongs have built a virtual monopoly on
methadone prescriptions at Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres in
numerous cities, including North York, Newmarket, Woodbridge,
Brampton, Vanier and Hamilton. Shipments to Owen Sound, Guelph and
Ottawa came from partner pharmacies co-owned by the Wongs in Hanover
and Guelph. Other pharmacists licensed to dispense methadone in many
of those cities told the Star they virtually stopped dispensing the
drug once the Wongs took over the market. Now, those local
pharmacists are being asked to start dispensing methadone again.

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic usually taken in liquid form mixed
with orange drink. Generally, it blocks the high addicts get from
heroin and opiate-based painkillers, such as morphine. It is used to
wean addicts off the drugs and stops them from experiencing cravings
and withdrawal symptoms. Patients who start taking methadone are
often dependent for years -- and even life.

OATC is the biggest chain of methadone clinics in Ontario. The
clinics are a partnership led by two Richmond Hill doctors, Jeff
Daiter and Michael Varenbut. Calls for comment were not returned
yesterday. Daiter, who has refused interviews over the past two
months, has told the College of Physicians and Surgeons he receives
no financial benefit from his relationships with pharmacies.

The Star found the agreements the clinics have with the Wongs are
both lucrative and controversial. Among the allegations: as part of
the agreement, OATC patients are required to sign contracts stating
they will allow their doctor to choose their pharmacist. In
interviews with clinic insiders, the Star found that OATC gave the
Wongs their pick of which clinics they would service. In exchange for
a guaranteed slate of daily methadone patients, pharmacists make
financial investments in the clinics, and purchase medical software
supplied by a company owned by Daiter and Varenbut.

The pharmacists' college has been investigating the OATC/Wong
relationship since 2003 and recently referred the Wongs to a
disciplinary committee (the pharmacists' college has no jurisdiction
over the doctors). No hearing date has been set.