METHADONE CLINIC COULD PAY $90,000 IN PENALTIES

Federal prosecutors are seeking $90,000 in penalties against a Houston
methadone clinic for allegedly failing to keep accurate drug records.

In three audits, Drug Enforcement Administration agents found "serious
discrepancies" in the drug inventory at Riverside General Hospital's
Meth-Laam Treatment Center, according to a lawsuit the government filed
Tuesday.

But the hospital said in a statement late Wednesday that no drugs are
missing and none were diverted to illegal uses, "facts that were
acknowledged by one of the DEA agents who performed the audit."

"Any discrepancies are the result of accounting errors believed to have been
made by a former staff person who has since been replaced," the statement
said.

During a routine audit on April 10, 1997, agents found "serious
discrepancies in inventory for three controlled substances," including
methadone, the lawsuit said.

An administrator for the detoxification clinic told the agents that none of
the drugs had been stolen and that checks and balances had been implemented
to prevent future problems, the suit said.

But in a follow-up audit on Sept. 1, 1997, the agents again found
"variances" in the inventory, the suit said, but management told them again
that record-keeping would improve.

In a third audit, on June 16, 1998, "two separate audits for two different
periods were taken, both of which resulted in findings of unexplained and
unreported losses in the same three drugs," the suit said.

The agents say an administrator told them the discrepancies were due to
changes in management and reports had "fallen through the cracks."

The DEA then referred the case to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is
seeking the maximum penalty.