CLINICS URGE NEW OPTION

New Drug Safer For Addiction Treatment

Mental health centers across West Virginia are promoting a new
treatment for painkiller addiction.

The treatment program - an alternative to methadone clinics -
includes counseling and the use of a relatively new medicine called Suboxone.

"It prevents somebody from getting high when using an opiate drug,"
said Genise Lalos, director of addiction services with the Prestera
Center. "It blocks the high. This is the gold standard for treating
opiate addiction."

Last week, Prestera and three other nonprofit behavioral health
centers - Seneca Health Services of Summersville, Valley Health of
Huntington and West Brook Health Centers of Parkersburg - received a
$360,000 grant to promote the new treatment program over the next
two years. The organizations serve 40 of West Virginia's 55 counties.

Unlike methadone, addicts don't have to drive to a clinic to get a
dose of Suboxone. They go to a doctor's office instead. Physicians
can prescribe Suboxone - a special version of the drug buprenorphine
- - to help addicts get off painkillers such as OxyContin.

"You don't have to go to a methadone clinic every other day and
stand in line with 100 other people," Lalos said. "You would get
this like you would any other medication. This is as effective as
methadone, but it has fewer side effects and risk factors."

Lalos said it's virtually impossible to overdose on Suboxone. The
drug includes an antidote that hospitals give to patients who have
overdosed on methadone.

"It's a safer drug," Lalos said. "A lot of physicians feel more at
ease in prescribing it."

Physicians who want to prescribe the medication must receive special
training. They can write prescriptions for up to 30 patients the
first year, and 100 patients in subsequent years.

People who take part in the new treatment program would receive the
drug after visiting a physician and attend outpatient counseling
about three times a week. Treatment lasts from one to two years.

"It's important that you have a counseling program, so when you stop
taking the medication you won't relapse," Lalos said.

Mental health centers across West Virginia are promoting a new
treatment for painkiller addiction.

The treatment program - an alternative to methadone clinics -
includes counseling and the use of a relatively new medicine called Suboxone.

"It prevents somebody from getting high when using an opiate drug,"
said Genise Lalos, director of addiction services with the Prestera
Center. "It blocks the high. This is the gold standard for treating
opiate addiction."

Last week, Prestera and three other nonprofit behavioral health
centers - Seneca Health Services of Summersville, Valley Health of
Huntington and West Brook Health Centers of Parkersburg - received a
$360,000 grant to promote the new treatment program over the next
two years. The organizations serve 40 of West Virginia's 55 counties.

Unlike methadone, addicts don't have to drive to a clinic to get a
dose of Suboxone. They go to a doctor's office instead. Physicians
can prescribe Suboxone - a special version of the drug buprenorphine
- - to help addicts get off painkillers such as OxyContin.

"You don't have to go to a methadone clinic every other day and
stand in line with 100 other people," Lalos said. "You would get
this like you would any other medication. This is as effective as
methadone, but it has fewer side effects and risk factors."

Lalos said it's virtually impossible to overdose on Suboxone. The
drug includes an antidote that hospitals give to patients who have
overdosed on methadone.

"It's a safer drug," Lalos said. "A lot of physicians feel more at
ease in prescribing it."

Physicians who want to prescribe the medication must receive special
training. They can write prescriptions for up to 30 patients the
first year, and 100 patients in subsequent years.

People who take part in the new treatment program would receive the
drug after visiting a physician and attend outpatient counseling
about three times a week. Treatment lasts from one to two years.

"It's important that you have a counseling program, so when you stop
taking the medication you won't relapse," Lalos said.

As part of the grant, the health centers hope to make the drug more
available to low-income West Virginians.

West Virginia Medicaid doesn't pay for Suboxone, just as it doesn't
pay for methadone.

Most poor people without health insurance can't afford Sudoxone -
about $400 to $600 for a monthly supply.

"We're going to look at how can the state of West Virginia provide
this treatment to indigents and low-income people who desperately
need this," Lalos said.

Methadone clinic supporters have criticized Suboxone treatment
programs, saying they don't work for everyone addicted to painkillers.

Lalos said the drug works for most people, but isn't always
effective on addicts who take extremely high doses of opiates.

An estimated 83,000 West Virginians abuse painkillers each year.

"The state of West Virginia is seeing an increase in residents
abusing opiate drugs, whether it's prescribed like OxyContin, or an
illicit drug like heroin," Lalos said. "If we don't do something, we
could have a crisis on our hands."

West Virginia was one of six states that received a grant last week
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to improve drug addiction treatment.

West Virginia's behavioral health centers also plan to use part of
the money to decrease the time between when someone calls for help
with a drug problem and when treatment starts.