Lawmakers Consider Shutdown of Methadone Clinics

Legislation to outlaw opioid treatment programs that distribute methadone without offering integrated care in West Virginia is making its way through the legislature.

Sponsored by Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, Senate Bill 204 seeks to change West Virginia state code to outlaw opioid treatment programs that distribute methadone, also known as medication-assisted treatment (MAT).

“The intent of this is to go get people off this cycle and this loop of just feeding them through methadone clinics and keeping them coming back, and actually forcing a model that has more evidence associated with it,” Tarr said.

Sen. Scott Allen Fuller, R-Wayne, expressed his opinion on the state’s nine existing clinics.

“These methadone places that we have around the state are not in the business of curing or helping, in my opinion,” Fuller said. “I think they, [sic] it’s a perpetual cycle. And I guess you know, my question to you is, if we don’t do something that has an end state, then what is the answer?”

The Senate’s Select Committee on Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health met Wednesday afternoon but had to recess before opening discussion on Senate Bill 204. The committee took the unusual step of reconvening at 7 p.m. to give the bill full consideration.

Senators amended the bill to include language defining and allowing for integrated care after hearing testimony from Todd Davis, the associate director of research for the Division of Addiction Sciences at The Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University.

“The optimal system is an integrated system where you have, the literature is very clear on this, where you have primary care, you have behavioral health, you have addiction services, all of that happening,” Davis said.

The committee substitute for Senate Bill 204 passed the committee via voice vote.

Next, the bill will be considered by the Senate’s Health and Human Resources Committee before it is considered by the full Senate.