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Friday, December 23, 2011

Reduced Bus Access For Methadone Patients Will Cost Us More In the Long Run

Julie Dingwell with AIDS Saint John says the province will have a high price to pay for reducing bus access for patients getting methadone treatment.

Bus passes used to get to clinics will now only be good for 18 months.

Dingwell tells CHSJ News it was a cost saving measure by the province but it will cost us more in the long run because treatment will be curtailed and patients will relapse.

She says it's about 5-thousand dollars a year to treat someone at the clinic while an untreated person could cost us 45-thousand dollars in healthcare and legal costs.

She adds someone kicking their drug habit after only 18 months of treatment is very unlikely.