METHADONE CLINIC TO STAY CLOSED PENDING NEXT COURT HEARING

A methadone clinic in Saginaw remains closed following a second court
hearing to decide its fate.

The two-hour hearing Monday in Circuit Judge Dan Reeves' courtroom
wasn't the final battle over Shelby Treatment Center on U.S. 31.

Clinic owners Susan Staats-Sidwell and Dr. Glenn Archibald asked
Reeves to reverse his ruling issued last month that said the clinic
could not open unless its operators reapplied to the State Health
Planning and Development Agency for another license.

During Monday's hearing, clinic attorney David Belser told Reeves
there were several flaws in his previous ruling, including the
assertion that the public was denied the right to be notified of the
clinic and that the facility presents harm to its neighbors.

"Under the rules and regulations, the certificate of need was approved
to locate in the County of Shelby," Belser said.

The court fight began in May, when residents of Saginaw learned clinic
owners planned to locate in their unincorporated community.

Methadone is a prescribed drug taken by mouth to reduce the desire for
drugs such as painkillers and heroin. The Shelby Treatment Center
would be the county's first methadone clinic.

The original state license was noted for Calera, but Belser maintains
the permission covered the entire county.

However, Saginaw protesters said the clinic owners deceived the state
board by changing locations after a license was granted, denying the
people most affected the right the challenge.

Wording on the license was changed to Saginaw after legal proceedings
began, opponents said.

"There are ample lots to be purchased for a building in Calera," said
District Attorney Robby Owens, who, along with Attorney Mickey
Johnson, represented Saginaw residents. "If the defendants wanted a
place in Calera, they could have found one."

Owens said a license covering an entire county was designed for
hospitals, and the clinic skirted public comment through a technical
flaw in the state regulations.

"Those rules were designed for a medical facility that affected a
whole community," Owens said. "That's not what a methadone clinic is,
and that's not what it does."

During the hearing, Belser asked to call witnesses to refute negative
claims about methadone. However, Reeves delayed that testimony.

"These issues will be irrelevant, and that's not the issue that the
plaintiffs have raised," Reeves said.

The judge said the case should be narrowed to cover only the question
of whether the clinic's owners were disingenuous in their attempts to
locate in Calera and intentionally deceived the Saginaw public.

A third hearing was scheduled for Aug. 9 at 11 a.m. where both sides
will present witnesses.