DEA Seizes Patient Records from Maine Methadone Clinic September 22, 2003
News Summary
Twenty-five armed federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents entered a Maine methadone clinic and removed records as part of an investigation of Medicaid billing, the Portland Press Herald reported Sept. 11.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which executed the search warrant for CAP Quality Care in Westbrook, declined to comment about why DEA agents seized boxes containing patients' Medicaid billing records from the clinic.
HHS, which provides Medicaid funding to patients of methadone clinics, said it also requested records from the state.
A spokesman for the clinic said neither the HHS nor DEA agents gave a reason for seizing the records.
Law-enforcement officials have criticized several methadone clinics in the state, including CAP Quality Care, for contributing to the record number of overdose deaths in Maine last year. Police officials claim that the clinics are prescribing an unusually high amount of methadone.
Kim Johnson, director of Maine's Office of Substance Abuse, said she has been unable to find out why the clinic was being investigated. She said her office routinely inspects methadone clinics to ensure that they are following state and federal regulations.
Johnson said that patients are concerned that their medical information has been seized. She is working to address their concerns and to encourage them to return to the clinic for treatment.
"It's about the clinic, not about the patients," she said.
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