LAWMAKERS LOOKING INTO ABUSE

Physicians Worried That Methadone Is Being Sold Illegally

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.

"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 on Wednesday opted not to vote on a bill 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.