METHADONE TREATMENT MUST CONTINUE: MDS

Supply Shutdown Cannot Affect Patients, Physicians College Insists

Doctors prescribing meth-adone must ensure their patients are not
affected by the forced shutdown of a major supplier of the drug,
officials at Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeon say.

In a letter to go out early next week to methadone prescribers, the
college says doctors must determine if a decision by the Ontario
College of Pharmacists to shut down Kitchener-based pharmacists Wing
and Susan Wong affects any of their patients.

"If that's the case, we're hoping physicians will be assisting their
patients however they can," Kathryn Clarke, a spokeswoman for the
doctor's group, said yesterday. "We're expecting physicians to fulfil
their professional obligations and communicate with their patients
during this time."

She said the letter will go to all doctors who prescribe metha-done,
but shutting down the Wongs will have the greatest impact on two
doctors who run Ontario's largest network of methadone clinics.

Dr. Jeff Daiter and Dr. Michael Varenbut own Ontario Addiction
Treatment Centres, which has about two dozen clinics, including two
in Ottawa, that treat hundreds of patients.

The Wongs supply most of the methadone used at the clinics. But they
were ordered to stop shipping the drug by March 13 because of alleged
violations of the college of pharmacists code of ethics and
government regulations for dispensing. The Wongs dispute the allegations.

The allegations cover, in part, their business dealings and practices
with the Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres clinics, including an
Ottawa clinic on Somerset Street.

Last year, an Ottawa man died after a visit to the clinic. The dose
he received was allegedly 10 times the amount he could handle. The
methadone used by the clinic was shipped from a Hanover, Ont., clinic
that is alleged to be party owned by the Wongs.

Dr. Daiter and Dr. Varenbut could not be reached for comment.

Methadone is taken by people with addictions to opiates like heroin
and some strong painkillers. It helps them handle the cravings for the drugs.

Della Croteau, deputy registrar of the pharmacists college, said her
group is trying find pharmacists to dispense the drug to clinic patients.

But with the deadline nearing, addictions specialists and other
doctors who prescribe metha-done are concerned some people's
treatment programs will be interrupted. This, they say, would likely
result in addicts returning to the street for drugs.

This is the situation the doctors' college is hoping to avoided, Ms.
Clarke said. She said doctors need to make themselves available to
patients and, if treatment programs are in jeopardy, make every
effort to ensure the programs will be maintained. "We want to doctors
to ensure the well-being and continuity of care for their patients."