Published: November 16, 2009 08:21 pm      

Clinic owner sues city, county

Somerset — Pulaski County officials who didn’t want to see a methadone maintenance clinic locate in Somerset have gotten their wish, but potentially at a high cost — a $15 million federal lawsuit filed against them by the clinic’s owners.

Somerset Addiction Solutions, the company owned by Terry Scott, the man behind a number of opiate treatment clinics here in Kentucky, has filed suit in U.S. District Court in London, Ky., claiming that actions taken by the City of Somerset and Pulaski County government have damaged his businesses’ chances to open and make money here locally.

Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treat-ment, and Education), an expansive organization located in Eastern Kentucky committed to battling the spread and abuse of illegal drugs, is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Neither Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler nor Pulaski County Judge-executive Barty Bullock were aware of the lawsuit as of press time.

“We have not been notified of any lawsuit,” Girdler said last night, adding that he would advise City Attorney Carrie Wiese to review the documents today.

Girdler pointed out that other cities in Kentucky had also opposed the arrival of methadone clinics.

“It’s surprising that they only chose Somerset,” he said.

Pulaski County Attorney Bill Thompson, who was also unaware of the suit, likewise said he would not be able to comment on the case until he could see it.

“I’ve not seen or heard of any lawsuit, and to my knowledge, they haven’t served it to anybody,” Thompson said.

The plaintiff in the case, listed as Somerset Addiction Solutions, LLC, states that as a result of “discriminatory reaction and behavior” on the part of the city and county governments, the company has “expended time and financial resources and has lost opportunity costs,” the demanded compensation for which is no less than $15 million, an amount “reasonably determined from the evidence.”

That’s because Scott’s company lost opportunity costs by being compelled to cease plans to open the clinic here in Somerset, states the lawsuit. The $15 million figure is the clinic’s estimated loss in future financial revenue.

“Somerset Addiction Solutions, LLC, files this action seeking damages ... for harm it suffered as a result of (the) Defendants’ discriminatory actions, and seeking injunctive relief ... to prohibit further discriminatory actions on the part of said defendant and its agents,” states the suit.

The suit references the resolutions voted on by both municipalities — the county’s stating opposition to the clinic “until such a time as proper information is provided” by the clinic’s owners to government officials, law enforcement agencies, and the general public, while the city’s said that the plaintiff hadn’t given sufficient self-explanatory information to any government entity or the public.

Somerset’s resolution also stated that “no applications have been submitted to the City and the City will be taking all means legal to prevent any opening of said facility until all of the local requirements are met and complied in full.”

The suit argues that “contrary to the facts suggested in the resolutions ... Plaintiff had complied with all legal requirements for an entity seeking a license to open and conduct a methadone treatment clinic in Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky, at the time of adoption of the respective resolutions.”

The suit also charges that the government violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Supremacy Clause, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, the latter of which, as stated by the suit “prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities” from being “denied the benefits of ... any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

The suit states that “because the Rehabilitation Act broadly defines ‘program or activity’ to include ‘all the operations of’ a qualifying local government, the passage of formal resolutions is a covered activity within the meaning of the Act,” and that the resolutions were therefore a violation of this policy.

The plaintiff says that methadone treatment programs are regulated and licensed by this state, and that federal protections of individuals with disabilities are associated with those participating in supervised drug rehabilitation programs.

“Opiate addiction is a medical disorder that can be effectively treated in a methadone treatment program,” the suit reads.

Yet, “during the course of the licensing process, the Defendants decided to oppose the opening of the treatment facility,” states the suit. It blames UNITE, “acting through its Executive Director, Karen Engle, and other agents,” for joining with the governments to prevent the clinic from opening.

“The publicly declared purpose of UNITE is to empower local communities to combat illegal drug use through a comprehensive campaign of investigation, treatment, and education,” said the suit. “The purpose of UNITE is not to combat and prevent the operation or licensing of substance treatment facilities other than those formally or informally approved by UNITE or those financially, politically, philosophically or otherwise associated with UNITE.”

The suit notes that UNITE acted in conjunction with the local governments to sponsor and conduct a public forum in late October, its purpose said to be “to influence public opinion against the licensing of the treatment facility. ... Despite the fact that methadone is a governmentally approved method of treatment for substance abuse, UNITE is opposed to the methadone treatment method.”

As such, UNITE’s stance “serves to discriminate against” the methadone clinic, and the organization “intentionally acted in violation of the known constitutional and civil rights of the Plaintiff.”

Both the City of Somerset and Pulaski County Fiscal Court’s resolutions were passed last month in reaction to the news about Scott’s plans to locate a clinic here, which would use a drug called methadone to treat addicts of opiate and opioid substances — specifically effective against heroin. The idea is that the methadone, and a similar dug called Suboxone, would satisfy an addict’s cravings via a drug that better enables the individual to function on a day-to-day basis in society.

Critics claim that methadone itself is an addictive and dangerous drug, and the presence of such a clinic in the community could have harmful effects, including putting intoxicated individuals on the road as they drive to get their methadone treatment, and possible illegal resale of the drug on the streets.

Several public officials signed statements affirming that they were aware of the clinic’s plans to locate in Somerset, including Pulaski County Sheriff Todd Wood, Jailer Mike Harris, Janis Barton, COO of the Adanta Group, and Carolyn Palmer, representing the Somerset Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

The clinic would have been located in a 2,400-square-foot suite at 3540 South U.S.. 27 in Somerset, and expected to treat an initial pool of almost 2,900 opiate addicts.

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CJ staff writers Tricia Neal and Heather Pyles contributed to this story.