METHADONE CLINIC SEEKS STAY OF JUDGE'S RULING VACATING CERTIFICATE OF NEED

JOHNSON CITY - The legal battle over a proposed methadone clinic in
Johnson City continued Tuesday, as one side filed a petition for a
stay of an administrative law judge's decision to vacate the clinic's
certificate of need.

Earlier this month, Judge James Hornsby ruled that the Tennessee
Health Facilities Commission - now known as the Tennessee Health
Services and Development Agency - did not have a quorum in June 2002
when it voted to grant a certificate of need (CON) to the Johnson City
Addiction Research and Treatment Center.

Janet Jones, a commissioner on the THFC, recused herself from the vote
due to her husband having a conflict of interest.

Because Jones recused herself, the commission lost its quorum of
members to act, Hornsby wrote in his order.

Soon after Hornsby's ruling, Jerry Taylor, attorney for the methadone
clinic, said his client would be filing an appeal in Davidson County
Chancery Court.

On Tuesday, Taylor said he filed a petition for a stay of Hornsby's
ruling.

"The stay will basically keep the status quo as it existed before his
order, which means we would have the CON pending the appeal," Taylor
said.

The deadline to file a motion for a stay was Tuesday.

"It's kind of a routine step if you want to keep that order from being
effective while you take the appeal," Taylor said. "We felt like that
under the circumstances we ought to file and request a stay."

Taylor said he is asking for a stay to remain in effect until the
appeal is resolved.

Hornsby's ruling went into effect May 20, and Taylor said they have 60
days from that date to file an appeal.

"We're going to argue that the ruling was erroneous - that it is
contrary to the law," Taylor said.

Hornsby said he does not know whether he'll grant Taylor's petition
for a stay.

Hornsby said the petitioners - which include the city of Johnson City,
the Johnson City Development Authority and East Tennessee State
University - have seven days to file a response to Taylor's request.

The owner of the proposed Johnson City clinic also has methadone
clinics in Nashville and Memphis and has a certificate of need for a
new clinic in Knoxville.

The proposed clinic in Johnson City would offer methadone treatment
for a projected 250 people in its first two years of operation.

Methadone is a legal, synthetic opioid that is used as a substitute
for heroin and other addictive painkillers. Regular oral consumption
of the drug blocks heroin withdrawal symptoms, one of the biggest
hurdles for addicts to overcome when they try to quit the drug.