Tuesday, July 11, 2006

"Stunning" new chemotherapy for substance abuse hailed in Washington state

A drug treatment approach called Prometa is credited by the Pierce County, WA, drug court with near-100% success in preventing relapse after 90 days, the Seattle Times says.

The approach is based on the administration of three medications -- the antihistamine hydroxyzine; flumezanil, which supposedly counteracts the effects of sedatives (but the drug is not found on Medline Plus; and the anticonvulsant Neurontin, also called Gabapentin. Of the three pharmaceutical drugs that are administered during the treatment, one is given orally and two are administered intravenously once a day for three days. A second cycle of infusions is administered about three weeks later.

The Seattle Times says, "Pierce County Alliance, the county's treatment center, found that 92.5 percent of the participants remained drug-free in the first three months of the trial — while 98 percent of the weekly random urine analyses tested negative for substance abuse. The relapse rate in drug court is about 50 percent." The Seattle Times story had nothing bad to say about this treatment approach and the article by Christine Clarridge could be used as a sales pitch:

"I've worked in this field 23 years and I've never seen anything as successful," Lisa Daheim said. "I watch people come in and it's literally as if someone took a washcloth and washed the wrinkles and anxieties and dirt and fears off of their faces. They look like different people."

"I've never seen anything that has as much promise ... as Prometa," said [Terree] Schmidt-Whelan [director of Pierce County Alliance treatment center], who has worked in drug treatment for 30 years. "One hundred percent of the people reported feeling better."
The Seattle Times says for private clients, the treatment costs $15,000. Prometa is a trademark of Hythiam, Inc., which describes itself as
a healthcare services management company formed for the purpose of researching, developing, licensing and commercializing innovative technology to improve the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction.
The Hythiam business plan tells about the methamphetamine epidemic and how you can get in on the ground floor of this lucrative business. Andrea Barthwell, MD, formerly of ONDCP is part of the management team. The plan tells about the 2006 commercial launch, and the celebrity marketing plan featuring Chris Farley, the comedian who died 8 years ago.

Farley's image is prominent in billboards placed in Southern California with the legend, "It wasn't all his fault." The billboards generated 250 phone calls a day to Prometa.

Here are the business's goals for 2006

Goals for 2006
  • Leverage Gary, Indiana Drug Court pilot to promote PROMETA as standard for stimulant dependence in Criminal Justice
  • Capitalize on Urschel study results to promote the first effective medical treatment for methamphetamine dependence
  • Initiate reimbursement pathways through direct Medicaid pilots
  • Pursue adoption and reimbursement of payors through partnerships with Managed Behavioral Healthcare Organizations
  • Launch consumer marketing campaigns in key MSA’s
  • Continue to expand footprint of licensees nationwide
Hythiam's revenues have grown from $75,000 in 2003 to $1,164,000 in 2005. The business plan says,
Hythiam generally receives $6,400 per treatment for alcohol and $7,450
for stimulants for the private pay market
Hythiam is on NASDAQ as HYTM the business plan says.

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1 comment:

SteveHeath said...

So I got this idea, see?

What we do is we set up a system of coerced "treatment" for those who use BAD drugs which we don't make any money on.

Then we combine that program with coerced ingestion of GOOD drugs which we make lots of money on.

Slackers will be placed into a prison cage.

Cooperation among participants should thus be high.

It's those damn MBAs...Showing business models which Double Your Pleasure and Double Your Profit Fun.

Kind of a rush going through my body as I think about it. Can I have some stock in Hythiam please?

Ruefully in Clearwater

Steve http://mapinc.org/resource