Large profit margins draw private equity firms and investor-owned companies to methadone clinics and other addiction treatment services. The Bloomberg investigation revealed that carryout doses distributed to patients by the nation’s largest for-profit chain of methadone clinics, CRC Health Corp., were turning up in illegal street sales and deaths. Former employees of CRC, which is owned by Bain Capital, said that their caseloads were sometimes so high they didn’t have time to provide adequate counseling or check on patients. The article quoted sources saying it was cheaper for methadone clinics simply to provide carryout doses. In addition, new data reveal that for-profit clinics tend to have lower staffing levels than not-for-profit clinics.
