WAMPLER WANTS MORATORIUM ON METHADONE CLINICS IN VA.

GATE CITY - A local senator is all too familiar with the subject of
methadone. It was the basis of one of the bills he introduced and saw
approved during the 2004 session of the Virginia General Assembly.

State Sen. William Wampler Jr., R-Bristol, was the patron of a bill, SB
607, which prohibits granting a license to a clinic that treats persons
with opiate addiction if it is to be located within one-half mile of a
public or private day-care center or K-12 school.

He says that new law will unfortunately not come into play with a clinic
proposed to be established near the Tennessee state line by Appalachian
Treatment Services in Scott County.

The proposed location of the modular-type facility that ATS would install
along U.S. Route 23 near Weber City is two to three miles away from the
nearest school.

"In doing my research on the subject (of methadone), I heard some
encouraging stories, and I heard some really tragic stories from families,"
said Wampler.

"There are varied views on whether or not we should have methadone clinics
and if we have them where do we put them. There are conflicting data and
views among community service boards."

He noted that officials with community service boards across the state have
told him that most methadone clinics have not fulfilled their obligation to
patients by providing inpatient and outpatient counseling.

"There has to be more to it than just giving a patient their medication and
monitoring it. There has to be intensive counseling. What is controversial
is there is no timeline as to when the methadone dosage is reduced,"
Wampler said.

Doug Varney, president and CEO of Frontier Health, a company that provides
substance abuse services to residents in Scott, Lee and Wise counties, told
the Scott County Board of Supervisors last week that recent figures
published in the Roanoke Times show there have been more methadone-related
deaths in the Southwestern part of the state than in any other part of the
commonwealth.

"If that clinic opens up, you are going to have folks lining up at 5 a.m.,
and it will be backed up to the (Tennessee) state line," said Varney.

"These clinics take a cookbook approach to getting their licenses approved.
The state really needs to have better regulations when it comes to these
types of clinics," he said.

ATS sponsor and director Richard Skelskey has said the need for the clinic
stems from the number of clients from the Tri-Cities who travel to other
locations to gain the treatment.

Varney said although there are currently 180 patients being treated for
substance abuse from the three-county region, only eight of those are
opiate dependent.

"The numbers do not support the need," Varney said.

Wampler said he would consider sending a formal request to the head of
Virginia's health organization to help delay the establishment of clinics
in the state.

The delay, he explained, would help state officials get a better handle on
the regulation and if an "excessive amount" of clinics that are for-profit
are needed.

"I would hope that the Virginia secretary of health and human resources
would recommend executive action to place a moratorium on any new licensure
and have the secretary report to the General Assembly as to what
recommendations for the state considering how many clinics we should have,"
Wampler said.

"I'm sure we need to establish a certificate of need for these facilities
like we do for nursing home beds. However, as a policy maker, I think we
need a better method of determining whether new facilities are needed."