COMPANY DROPS DRUG CLINIC BID AFTER CERTIFICATE DENIED

A Memphis-based firm will abandon its efforts to open a methadone clinic in
Donelson after state officials denied the company's request to go forward,
a company official said.

''I think that's the end of it,'' said John Wright, a partner with
Cumberland Research and Treatment LLC. ''I don't think we're going to
pursue it any further.''

The firm wanted to open a clinic at 511 Royal Parkway.

The state Health Services and Development Agency, which is responsible for
processing and approving applications for health services and facilities,
denied the facility a certificate of need. A certificate of need from the
state is required to initiate certain activities, including opening a
methadone clinic.

Board member Carl Koela said the agency denied the request because an
''existing clinic in Nashville has plenty of capacity.''

The state agency considers criteria such as the need for a facility and
economic feasibility in deciding to issue a certificate.

Davidson County has a methadone clinic on Charlotte Avenue, the Middle
Tennessee Treatment Center, which sees about 350 patients and has a
capacity of 3,000.

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic used to treat people addicted to heroin,
Dilaudid and other opiates. A January report from the state commissioner of
health states that 511 people in Davidson and surrounding counties are
enrolled in methadone clinics.

Gloria Vaughan, who opposed the proposed clinic and spoke against it at the
meeting, said she and others were ''surprised that it came down to a
unanimous vote.''

''But we think it was a fair outcome,'' she said. ''When you compare the
facts, obviously, there wasn't a need for another treatment center in
Nashville.''

Wright said he feels the board acted fairly and there is nothing his
company could have done to change the decision.

''We put two years of our best effort and a lot of money into the project.
But when you lose fair and square, you just lose. There's nothing you can
do about it.''