Pubdate: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 Source: Birmingham News, The (AL) Copyright: 2004 The Birmingham News Contact: http://al.com/birminghamnews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/45 Author: Nancy Wilstach, and Joseph D. Bryant Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) JUDGE KEEPS METHADONE CLINIC STALLED IN SAGINAW Circuit Judge Dan Reeves ruled Monday that no methadone clinic can open in Saginaw until would-be clinic operators get a Certificate Of Need with Saginaw as the stated site. The methadone clinic received a Certificate Of Need from the Alabama State Health Planning and Development Agency, but the partners proposing to operate the clinic had specified a Calera location. After obtaining the CON, the clinic owners changed their location to Saginaw. The clinic's lawyer, David Belser, claimed that all residents of Shelby County received proper notice when clinic owners intended to open in Calera. Saginaw residents object to a methadone clinic in their neighborhood. Although the clinic originally was planned for Calera, the state certificate was issued for the entire county and didn't require further notification, Belser argued. Reeves found "that the decision of the defendants to locate said facility in Saginaw, without first providing any form of public notice of such intent, deprives the plaintiffs of their right to due process." Reeves' preliminary injunction extends the effect of a temporary restraining order he issued last week. "No citizen of the State of Alabama, regardless of their interests or their efforts, could have known of the intention of the defendants to locate in Saginaw" while there was still time to exercise rights to object to a CON, Reeves wrote. The right to be heard on a CON application at a public hearing or the right to appeal the decision of SHPDA, Reeves wrote, are "guaranteed by statute, by rule or by regulation." Susan Staats-Sidwell and Dr. Glenn Archibad are seeking to open the Shelby Treatment Center on U.S. 31 in Saginaw. Methadone is a prescribed drug taken by mouth to reduce the desire for drugs such as painkillers and heroin. At the request of District Attorney Robby Owens, Reeves had issued a temporary restraining order last week, stopping all preparations at a converted Saginaw warehouse. "The next move now is really in their court," Owens said. "I intend to take this as far as I can take it." In his Monday order, Reeves did not tell Staats-Sidwell and Archibald they had to stop remodeling work on the building. However, he warned them that any expenses they incur cannot be used to help their case. Belser said he intends to file a motion to move the court case to Montgomery, where officials with the State Health Planning Agency would participate. Belser said complaints about notification and fairness to residents are issues dealing with state regulations, not the clinic. "If anything went wrong it went wrong in Montgomery," Belser said. "Every rule, regulation and statute has been fully complied with by Shelby Treatment Center." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin