Tag Archives: Medication Assisted Treatment

DOJ: Denying Services to Persons on MAT Violates ADA

On Thursday, May 10,2018, the US Department of Justice announced that it had reached a settlement agreement with Charlwell House, a skilled nursing facility in Norwood, Massachusetts, to resolve allegations that the facility violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by refusing to accept a patient because they were being treated for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).

Charlwell House is a 124-bed health and rehabilitation center that provides skilled nursing services and rehabilitation programs. According to a complaint filed with the United States Attorney’s Office, an individual seeking admission for treatment at Charlwell House was denied because they were being treated with Suboxone, a medication used to treat OUD. Individuals receiving treatment for OUD are generally considered disabled under the ADA, which among other things prohibits private healthcare providers from discriminating on the basis of disability.

According to DOJ: “Our office is committed to protecting the rights of people with disabilities, which includes those in treatment for an Opioid Use Disorder,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “The number one enforcement priority of my office is addressing Massachusetts’ opioid crisis. Overdoses killed more than 2,000 individuals in Massachusetts last year alone. As Massachusetts faces this overdose epidemic, now more than ever, individuals in recovery must not face discriminatory barriers to treatment. We appreciate the cooperation that Charlwell House has offered throughout our investigation.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Charlwell House will, among other things, adopt a non-discrimination policy, provide training on the ADA and OUD to admissions personnel, and pay a civil penalty of $5,000 to the United States.

Sally Friedman, the Legal Director of the Legal Action Center (LAC), applauded the U.S. Attorney’s office for taking action against this widespread form of discrimination, noting that it is likely the first ADA settlement against a skilled nursing facility for excluding patients because they are taking medication to treat their substance use disorder.

“The case law is abundantly clear that the ADA protects individuals with substance use disorder. This settlement by the Department of Justice should send a resounding message to skilled nursing facilities – and other entities – that denying care to people because they are taking life-saving medication to treat addiction is a discriminatory practice that will not be tolerated.”

This settlement announcement comes on the heels of a letter by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that it is investigating whether the Massachusetts correctional system is violating the ADA by forcing people off addiction medication when they become incarcerated, and an article in STATNews documenting the common practice of nursing facilities refusing to accept patients taking addiction medication.
Information about what to do when forced off medication assisted treatment (MAT) by the criminal justice and child welfare systems or employers is available in LAC’s MAT Advocacy toolkit,www.lac.org/MAT-advocacy.

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Negative Press Causing Referrals to Florida to Come Into Question

The Portland Press Herald reported on July 19, 2017 in the article “Operation Hope stops sending clients out of New England for opioid addiction treatment” about how the Scarborough (Maine) Police Department’s Operation Hope has stopped sending clients out of New England for treatment for opioid addiction, largely because of negative media about alleged unscrupulous programs, especially in Florida (a story published in May by STAT, a health journalism website that partners with The Boston Globe, detailed alleged insurance scams and referrals to Florida clinics where patients were receiving little or no treatment).

Launched in 2015, Operation Hope was conceived as a way for police to channel addicts who sought help into a treatment program as an alternative to criminal prosecution on drug-related charges.

In most cases, getting help from Operation Hope meant flying out of state – to Florida or one of eight other states – because Maine lacked treatment opportunities. In the program’s first six months, four out of five Operation Hope participants headed out of Maine, mostly to clinics in Florida, Arizona and Massachusetts.

“We always wanted to help people closer to home, but we really had no other choice. That was the only way to get people help,” said Steve Cotreau, program manager at Portland Community Recovery Center. The nonprofit social support center for people in recovery has helped with Operation Hope placements.

With the current black-and-white approach that many law enforcement agencies are taking with regard to “regulation” of treatment providers, many good providers are electing to close up shop due to lack of regulatory guidance. When the only guidance available is a knock at the door from a detective claiming you have violated the law, when the lawyers themselves may disagree whether the law was violated, but it is to be “left up to the judge and jury” to determine one’s fate, many good providers are simply walking away.

There is an absolute vacuum of publicly-funded beds in Florida, and nationally. Even when there is some modicum of availability, these facilities are generally not accessible to persons who do not qualify as being impoverished, and are often staffed by persons who lack the experience or education to be administering what is becoming an overwhelmingly medical modality.

The ignorance from the regulatory bodies about how the private sector must be allowed to work is impeding innovation as well as necessary investment in technologies for growth. A truly progressive society would stop complaining and fully support the treatment industry altogether.

The apparent restriction of prosecutorial discretion for purposes of achieving popular political gains is not only short-sighted, but also has a significant negative impact upon the substantial legitimate employment that the industry provides, along with choking off the ancillary revenue that local businesses experience from developing recovery communities.

We will simply go from one crisis, to another.

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