State To Audit Methadone Program
By: Patrick Schurr
Updated: July 1, 2010
HARRISBURG, DAUPHIN COUNTY - An audit of the state's methadone program will be considered before Pennsylvania's next budget.
The Senate passed a resolution Tuesday calling for the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to review the taxpayer-funded program, which prescribes the synthetic narcotic to treat opiate addiction.
Sen. Kim Ward, a Republican from Hempfield, Westmoreland County, called for a report to be made within 150-days so the legislature can decide whether to cut the program as waste.
The use of methadone has gone up, along with the number of clinics dispensing the drug, as nationwide heroin use increases.
