CLINICS COME UNDER QUESTION

THE white crosses tell the story.

At Wallsend Court yesterday Bree Jones' father, Wayne Jones, laid 242 of
them to represent the number of people who had died in NSW from methadone
overdoses between 1990 and 1995.

One hundred and three of those who died were not on a methadone program.

During the inquest into Bree's death yesterday, Dr James Nicholls said he
gave up to four takeaway doses of the drug to patients a week - and he often
saw them once every six months.

Dr Nicholls, who runs a private methadone clinic in Lake Macquarie and has
150 patients, said that when prescribing methadone he asked for 'whatever'
identification he could get.

He was aware methadone was diverted to people not on the program and
injected.

Each consultation cost between $25 and $110.

Dr Nicholls said he had a 98% success rate of his patients becoming
methadone-free, a figure described by Dr Aidan Foy yesterday as 'absurd'.

Dr Foy, who started the Newcastle public methadone clinic in 1986, told the
court it was closer to 30%.

An evaluation of private methadone clinics tendered yesterday stated that
unlike public clinics, the private ones charged dispensing fees, had brief
medical consultations and provided many more takeaway doses of methadone.

It said policies were frequently not enforced and one clinic was described
as 'chaotic'.

Checked-by: Don Beck