HOUSE COMMITTEE TACKLES METHADONE CLINICS

CHARLESTON - West Virginia must stop the blossoming abuse of
methadone and regulate the growing number of clinics handing it out to
treat heroin and OxyContin addicts, the House Health and Human
Resources Committee was told Wednesday.

"Methadone is being widely diverted from these clinics, sold on the
streets and sold for a profit," alleged Dr. Michael McNeer, a Mercer
County psychiatrist.

An official with the company that runs six of the state's seven
clinics, meanwhile, welcomed state oversight.

"We have a lot of experience working with regulatory agencies, and we
have a great deal of success in doing so," said David Wilkerson of CRC
Health Group. "We support further oversight and regulation."

But the committee opted not to vote on a bill (HB4387) to regulate
clinics because of questions by members about methadone and its use in
treatment.

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic used to treat people addicted to
opium-based drugs such as heroin, morphine and OxyContin, and wean
them off those drugs.

Since 2001, methadone clinics have sprouted up in Beckley, Charleston,
Clarksburg, Huntington, Martinsburg, Parkersburg and Williamson.
Clinics in Mineral County and Wheeling were recently approved.

The bill would allow the Department of Health and Human Resources to
set rules governing clinic operating standards, treatment plans, staff
credentials and the number of patients for every staffer.

The committee has proposed amending the bill to bar any new clinics
from opening until after DHHR adopts the rules, which would be due in
September.

The state Health Care Authority has already imposed a moratorium on
new methadone centers, which expires July 1. Chairwoman Sonia Chambers
said the authority, which licenses hospitals and clinics, acted after
seven more clinics applied for licenses to open.

"There certainly is a place for methadone treatment," Chambers said.
"We wanted to look at this further."

Wilkerson questioned the prospect of methadone abuse. He said that
unlike an opium drug, it does not cause euphoria or physical side
effects, or require increasing doses to have an effect.

McNeer said methadone can intoxicate a user. He said patients, fellow
doctors and law enforcement have told him that clinic patients are
funneling extra doses to the street, where it is sold for $1 per
milligram. Clinics dispense 100 milligram doses at about $12 each, and
each dose costs about 78 cents to produce, he said.

Merritt Moore of DHHR's Office of Behavioral Health Services urged the
committee to ensure it protects patient confidentiality with its
clinic reporting requirements.

Delegate Margarette Leach, D-Cabell, noted that the committee studied
the methadone issue at length during last year's monthly interim
meetings. Had enough members attended those meetings, the committee
would be up to speed on the pending bill, she said.