Pubdate: Fri, 21 Dec 2007
Source: Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY)
Copyright: 2007 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Note: Only publishes local LTEs

IND. METHADONE CLINIC RESPONDS WITH LAWSUIT

The operators of a newly opened methadone clinic filed  a federal
lawsuit today claiming that Clark County  commissioners are
discriminating against their patients  by investigating clinic
operations and seeking an  injunction that could shut down the business.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis  came a day
after the commissioners, citing traffic  congestion outside the clinic
on the day it opened Dec.  12, filed a lawsuit in the county Circuit
Court asking  that the clinic be closed until it can prove it
operates safely.

Joe Pritchard, a vice president of CRC Health Group  that operates The
Southern Indiana Treatment Center on  Charlestown Pike near Ind. 62,
said the county's action  violated the Americans with Disabilities
Act.

"We are doing this to protect the rights of our  patients," Pritchard
said of the CRC lawsuit.

The CRC suit said the county's claims of danger to the  public "are a
pretext to disguise the true, unlawful  purpose ... which is to
interfere with and close the  center because it provides services to
individuals with  disabilities."

Clark County Attorney Dan Moore said he was surprised  by the clinic's
action.

"Their lawyers who contacted me were conciliatory,"  Moore said. He
said the lawsuit was "contrary to what  their representative said at
the (commissioners')  meeting acknowledging problems."

The discrimination claim "is the farthest thing that  has ever come
before the commissioners for  consideration," Moore said.

The commissioners' suit, citing information from at  least eight
witnesses, contends that cars were parked  illegally on the median and
shoulders of Ind. 62, with  at least 10 to 12 people running across
the highway to  get to the clinic. The suit also said 60 to 70 cars
were parked illegally on surrounding private property,  and it said
some children were left unattended in cars  by people who went into
the clinic.

A hearing on the commissioners' suit is scheduled Jan.
10.

The CRC lawsuit acknowledges there were parking and  traffic problems
at the clinic on opening day. They  were due to computer problems that
delayed taking care  of the 875 patients who came in that day, the
lawsuit  and clinic managers said.

Usually, the clinic treats 500 to 700 of its 1,500  patients a day,
operating from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. But  company officials have said more
came Dec. 12 because  the clinic's previous building, in
Jeffersonville, was  shut down on Dec. 11 because of the move.

"The temporary computer issues were resolved by  approximately 8:30
a.m. on the morning" the clinic  opened, the federal lawsuit said, and
parking problems  by 10 a.m.

After Dec. 12 the clinic has operated without problems,  the lawsuit
said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Steve Heath