METHADONE DOCTOR FACES DISCIPLINE HEARING

OSHAWA-- A doctor at Oshawa's controversial downtown methadone clinic will
face a disciplinary hearing for alleged professional misconduct.

Dr. Eric Lloyd Blair Bobby Esbin, known as Dr. Bobby Esbin, faces
allegations relating to his methods of prescribing methadone for treating
addiction.

A hearing date has yet to be set to hear the allegations, which include
"the manner in which he permitted patients to take methadone home and the
manner in which he increased patients' methadone doses," according to the
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic that doesn't produce a "high." It is used
to treat recovering heroin and prescription opiate addicts, as well as
people suffering from chronic pain.

In a notice of hearing from the college dated in March, it is alleged Dr.
Esbin "engaged in conduct or an act or acts relevant to the practice of
medicine that... would reasonably be regarded as disgraceful, dishonourable
or unprofessional."

Dr. Esbin is one of five doctors at First Step Medical Clinic, which has
been at the centre of controversy since it moved 18 months ago to 32 Simcoe
St. S., in the heart of downtown Oshawa. The move was fought by the City,
which eventually lost a court challenge to prevent it.

A 1984 graduate of the University of Toronto, Dr. Esbin also dispenses
methadone from the clinic's Peterborough and Scarborough sites.

No orders have been issued against Dr. Esbin restricting his practice in
the meantime, said Jill Hefley, a spokesman for the college.

She wouldn't say if the allegations related to more than one incident, or
if they were related to any methadone deaths. The Regional Coroner is
currently conducting an entirely separate investigation looking at the
increase in fatal overdoses in Oshawa from 1997.

Responsibility for treatment programs was handed down by the federal
government to the college in 1996.

First Step president Fred Lorusso said Dr. Esbin had been with his clinic
for at least five or six years and called him "a capable doctor."

"The college believes his files aren't up to par, but the quality of his
service and care to patients is excellent," Mr. Lorusso said.

All five of the doctors at the Oshawa site, including Dr. Esbin, have been
advised by their lawyers not to talk to the media, he said.

First Step dispenses methadone to roughly 500 patients at its Oshawa site.
Mr. Lorusso said his clinics follow the college's "carry" guidelines, which
allow patients clean of other drugs and in stable treatment to take their
methadone home with them.