Doctors call methadone kickbacks a 'big problem'

From the Vancouver Province:
Addictions doctors in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have complained for months about pharmacists luring heroin addicts for their lucrative methadone prescriptions, and say rules around dispensing fees have to change.

"A lot of doctors have been frustrated by this," said Dr. Stan deVlaming, medical director for Inner City Primary Health Care for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. "There have been numerous complaints spread over months for at least a year. . . It's a big problem, not a small one."

Heroin addicts prescribed methadone, which quells cravings, are getting kickbacks for filling their prescriptions at certain pharmacies, particularly in the Downtown Eastside and in Whalley's downtown in Surrey.

Offering incentives is against PharmaCare rules and the B.C. College of Pharmacists and B.C. Health are investigating. ...more