Methadone Clinic News Blog @newzblogz.com

The Superior Court ruling upholds a Blair County judge's decision dismissing the lawsuit filed by Matthew Stever of Altoona, who was injured in a head-on crash caused by Crystal Ickes, 27, on Aug. 5, 2004.

Ickes was killed in the accident, so Stever sued her psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Antonowicz of the Altoona Regional Health System. Stever argued the doctor should have precluded Ickes from driving, knowing the danger in mixing antidepressant drugs and methadone.

But Judge Tim Sullivan cited four state Superior and Supreme court cases in which doctors were deemed not responsible for patient- caused accidents.

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LEBANON - Five healthy babies have been born to clients at Lebanon County's methadone clinic in the year since it opened, according to its director, Scott Stephenson. And that's only one sign of its success, he said.

The clinic has served more than 200 opiate-addicted patients. Ninety-one percent of its clients tested clean in the first quarter of 2007, and 65 percent of them are working. The clinic is beginning a program for clients in jail.

"It's been a great year, but we're just reaching the tip of the iceberg," he said. "There are still a lot of people out there who need help."

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PORT RICHEY - Residents in the city's east end have put up with crime, drug dealing and prostitution for years.

Recently, things have been improving. City police have been cracking down on crime while homeowners have polished the area's tarnished image by sinking big bucks into renovations.

So residents were less than pleased to learn that a state-funded drug treatment group has the city's permission to open a methadone clinic in the neighborhood.

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Who and where are the parents of the Portage students who are doing drugs? Shame on you parents for not knowing what your children are doing -- maybe the same thing you do.

This is to the parents in Portage who talk about Gary all the time -- which is, by the way, still bad. Look at the 88 kids who got nabbed at Portage schools, nearly half for drugs. My, what a shame. And you talk about Gary. I think we all have the same problem. What do you think?

What was the sense of putting in all the fancy sidewalks in downtown Wheatfield when the kids are still riding their bicycles down the middle of the street?

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Pa. law on methadone clinic locations struck down

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Pennsylvania law restricting methadone clinics within 500 feet of parks, places of worship and residential neighborhoods violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal appeals court ruled.

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic used to treat heroin and opium addicts.

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