Private Clinics Should Adhere To Guidelines On Methadone Prescription

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- All private clinics involved in drug rehabilitation treatment programmes using methadone should adhere to the guidelines issued by the Health Minister beginning Friday, said its minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek.
He said this was because investigations by the ministry found that 90 per cent of the private doctors involved in the programmes did not adhere to the guidelines.
"We found that there are some private doctors who only think of making profits," he told reporters after launching the National Level Drug Substitution Therapy with Methadone at Kuala Lumpur Hospital here today.
He said currently, there were 279 private clinics offering the therapy and they should adhere strictly to the guidelines of the Drug Substitution Therapy set by his ministry beginning Friday, if they wanted to continue to offer the service.
Dr Chua said those who defied the guidelines could be fined RM10,000 or face two years' imprisonment or both according to the Poison Act 1989.
The guidelines stated that only registered doctors who had undergone the Drug Substitution Therapy (DST) course could be allowed to offer the service.
Methadone could only be administered in liquid form by a doctor trained in DST and the drug addict should take the drug in front of the doctor for a duration of four to six weeks.
Besides that, the doctors involved could only provide DST treatment to not more than 20 new patients every month and should record all the patients' treatment details, including the urine sample test analysis.
"They (addicts) could not bring back methadone and should be under direct observation for three months," he said.
Hence, the private clinics offering the service are asked to contact the Health Ministry and adhere to the guidelines set by the ministry to prevent legal actions being taken against them.
On the National Level Drug Substitution Therapy with Methadone launched Friday, Dr Chua said it would be implemented in four zones (northern, eastern, central and south) nationwide, involving 1,200 addicts for six months beginning Friday.
The drug addicts would be given methadone in the liquid form in the selected government hospitals and health clinics including some private hospitals.
The government hospitals are Alor Star Hospital, Bukit Mertajam Hospital, Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, Melaka Hospital Permai Johor Hospital, Temerloh Hospital and Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital Kota Baharu.
The government health clinics are Pendang Health Clinic and AU2 Health Clinic, Keramat.
Among the selected private clinics included Klinik Sakinah (Alor Star), Klinik Xavier (Butterworth), Klinik Dr Khafidz (Kajang), Poliklinik Mawar (Ayer Molek, Melaka), Poliklinik Fernandez (Johor Bahru), Klinik Sulaiman (Jengka Pahang) and Klinik Rusli (Kota Baharu).
Dr Chua said the programme would be expanded to the whole country following the completion of the six-month pioneering project.
The Drug Substitution Therapy Programme with Methadone is part of the Harm Reduction Programme approach which also includes the exchange of old syringes for new syringes and free condoms distribution to selected drug addicts in efforts to curb the increasing HIV infection rate in the country.
The syringe exchange programme and free condoms distribution to the selected drug addicts would begin in January next year.