IND. METHADONE CLINIC RESPONDS WITH LAWSUIT

The operators of a newly opened methadone clinic filed a federal
lawsuit today claiming that Clark County commissioners are
discriminating against their patients by investigating clinic
operations and seeking an injunction that could shut down the business.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis came a day
after the commissioners, citing traffic congestion outside the clinic
on the day it opened Dec. 12, filed a lawsuit in the county Circuit
Court asking that the clinic be closed until it can prove it
operates safely.

Joe Pritchard, a vice president of CRC Health Group that operates The
Southern Indiana Treatment Center on Charlestown Pike near Ind. 62,
said the county's action violated the Americans with Disabilities
Act.

"We are doing this to protect the rights of our patients," Pritchard
said of the CRC lawsuit.

The CRC suit said the county's claims of danger to the public "are a
pretext to disguise the true, unlawful purpose ... which is to
interfere with and close the center because it provides services to
individuals with disabilities."

Clark County Attorney Dan Moore said he was surprised by the clinic's
action.

"Their lawyers who contacted me were conciliatory," Moore said. He
said the lawsuit was "contrary to what their representative said at
the (commissioners') meeting acknowledging problems."

The discrimination claim "is the farthest thing that has ever come
before the commissioners for consideration," Moore said.

The commissioners' suit, citing information from at least eight
witnesses, contends that cars were parked illegally on the median and
shoulders of Ind. 62, with at least 10 to 12 people running across
the highway to get to the clinic. The suit also said 60 to 70 cars
were parked illegally on surrounding private property, and it said
some children were left unattended in cars by people who went into
the clinic.

A hearing on the commissioners' suit is scheduled Jan.
10.

The CRC lawsuit acknowledges there were parking and traffic problems
at the clinic on opening day. They were due to computer problems that
delayed taking care of the 875 patients who came in that day, the
lawsuit and clinic managers said.

Usually, the clinic treats 500 to 700 of its 1,500 patients a day,
operating from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. But company officials have said more
came Dec. 12 because the clinic's previous building, in
Jeffersonville, was shut down on Dec. 11 because of the move.

"The temporary computer issues were resolved by approximately 8:30
a.m. on the morning" the clinic opened, the federal lawsuit said, and
parking problems by 10 a.m.

After Dec. 12 the clinic has operated without problems, the lawsuit
said.