If you are currently a client in a methadone clinic, then you have most likely heard treatment staff emphasize the importance of safety with methadone and the necessity of carefully securing take home methadone doses. Methadone is a powerful medication that is tremendously helpful to recovering individuals. It is also potentially lethal in the wrong hands and consequently must be deliberately safeguarded.

There is a recently published article on Bloomberg regarding methadone being diverted and then taken by someone who later died from an overdose. This turn of events has led to newly proposed legislation in five states (Maine, Indiana, Minnesota, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania) that would further tighten regulations regarding the operation of methadone clinics and their award of methadone take home medication to their clients.

The reported misuse of methadone, and associated deaths, was allegedly tied to several private, for-profit clinics that operate in these states. One of ...

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Methadone "take home" medication (also referred to as "take outs") is a true convenience for those enrolled in a methadone clinic. Typically, clients who demonstrate that they are drug free and progressing in their substance abuse treatment can earn the privilege to receive take home medication.

Receiving take home methadone requires that the prescribing physician (and clinic) have safety and accountability measures in place to help reduce the chance of methadone or suboxone getting into the wrong hands. When clients take medication home, it is critical that the opioid replacement medication be kept secure and out of the reach of children. Overdoses can occur with individuals that have no developed tolerance to opioid replacement medication.

Receiving take home methadone is a privilege, not a "right". This decision to award take home medication is usually a collective decision made among the clinical and medical staff in a treatment program. They base ...

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The results of a NIDA-funded study prepared by RTI International in Research Triangle Park, NC were just released. The study sought to determine the approximate annual cost, per client, of providing a quality methadone treatment program.

The study was completed in close association with Alcohol and Drug Services who operated three methadone clinics in Greensboro, High Point, and Burlington, North Carolina. Estimating the costs to operate an opioid treatment program is a difficult undertaking with many variables which must be accurately factored into a comprehensive analysis.

Some of the variables include: numerous monthly facility-related fees (lease, utilities, cleaning & maintenance), staff salaries, medication, medical equipment, urinalysis testing & lab fees, office equipment (phones, computers, copiers), educational materials and media devices, marketing & promotion, administrative & accounting costs, accreditation fees, medical records, and many other miscellaneous costs. The client census for any opioid treatment program also factors heavily into the clinic's financial viability as ...

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Methadone take homes (or carry outs) are awarded to clients that have demonstrated treatment progress, stability, and personal responsibility. A take home dose of methadone may be earned once a client has met a number of criteria set by each methadone clinic. Each state has its own methadone authority that provides additional guidelines regulating take home award. Consequently, take home medication awards may differ from one clinic to the next, and from one state to the next.

Some clinics provide an automatic take home for Sunday (often because the clinic is closed on Sunday), although a number of treatment programs have discontinued the "automatic" Sunday take home and are now open every day of the week for medication dispensing . This change resulted from a move to increase patient safety and to help ensure that take home medication was provided only to those with a good track record of program success ...

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