National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery
Contact Persons:
Zachary Talbott, President
president@methadone.org
Joycelyn Woods, Executive Director
edirector@methadone.org
Phone/Fax: 1 (212) 595-NAMA (1-212-595-6262)
president@methadone.org
Joycelyn Woods, Executive Director
edirector@methadone.org
Phone/Fax: 1 (212) 595-NAMA (1-212-595-6262)
For Release:
Robert Holden was also a recovering heroin user, who later became the Director of PIDARC, an outpatient opioid treatment program in the District of Columbia. He was a friend of Richard Lane and succeeded Richard Lane’s term of office as the Vice President of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence. This award was established in 1995 and recognizes extraordinary achievements in medication assisted treatment (MAT) patient advocacy.
The following criteria should be applied in making your selection:
Only one (1) nominee can be submitted by NAMA Recovery to the Conference Awards Committee. There may be a number of nominees however only one (1) “consensus” nominee may receive this honor.
The nominee must have been involved in the field of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) advocacy for a period of five (5) years.
The nominee must have made meaningful and consistent contributions, which have had a significant impact on opioid treatment within a state or region of the United States.
For each nominee a Nomination Form must be completed and submitted with two (2) Letters of Support. The Nomination Form and this announcement and can also be downloaded from the NAMA Recovery website http://www.methadone.org and the President’s Blog http://nama-president.blogspot.com/.
NAMA Recovery will be responsible for collecting all the submissions for nomination and selecting a committee of advocates that will decide on the final candidate. The Candidate’s Name, Nomination Form and at least two (2) Letters of Support describing the nominee’s achievements will be submitted to the AATOD Conference Awards Committee for the final approval.
The deadline for Submissions is October 9, 2020. The completed Nomination Form along with at least two (2) Letters of Support should be sent to Joycelyn Woods at edirector@methadone.org.
Previous Winners of the Award
Richard Lane, 1995, Arizona
Joycelyn Woods, 2001, St. Louis
Anthony Scro, 2007, San Diego
Walter Ginter, 2009, New York
Lisa Mojer Torres, 2010, Chicago
Roxanne Baker, 2012, Las Vegas
Ira Marion, 2013, Philadelphia
Claude Hopkins, 2015, Atlanta
Brenda Davis, 2016, Baltimore
Paul Bowman, 2017 New York
Zachary Talbott, 2019 Orlando
Joycelyn Woods, 2001, St. Louis
Anthony Scro, 2007, San Diego
Walter Ginter, 2009, New York
Lisa Mojer Torres, 2010, Chicago
Roxanne Baker, 2012, Las Vegas
Ira Marion, 2013, Philadelphia
Claude Hopkins, 2015, Atlanta
Brenda Davis, 2016, Baltimore
Paul Bowman, 2017 New York
Zachary Talbott, 2019 Orlando
This Award will be bestowed upon the recipient during the Awards Banquet Ceremony on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 during AATOD’s next National Conference which will convene at The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada
The recipient will be provided with a roundtrip Coach Class airfare, up to two (2) nights in the hotel and Conference Registration.
Deadline: Friday, October 9, 2020
Email Nominations To:
Joycelyn Woods
edirector@methadone.org
If you have any questions about the award contact Joycelyn
Woods at edirector@methadone.org or by telephone at 917-846-9983
Monday, September 16, 2019
Confidently Under Attack
National
Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery
For Release:
September 16, 2019
SAMHSA Ushers in Law Enforcement “Fishing Expeditions” for MAT Patients
The Fundamentals of Part 2 (Legal Action Center)
SAMHSA to Propose Changes to 42 CFR Part 2
Fight for Patient’s Rights - Dr. Westley Clark, MD, JD, MPH and Danielle Tarino, MA
Press Release
Phone/Fax: 1 (212) 595-NAMA (1-212-595-6262)
For Release:
September 16, 2019
Confidently
Under Attack
(We Are in for the
Fight of Our Lives)
SAMHSA has
posted two notices of proposed rulemaking (“NPRMs”) on the federal regulations
for the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records.
They were
published August 26, 2019 in the Federal Register. Note the comment deadlines for
each rule:
NPRM –
Regulatory Information Number 0930-AA30:
Deadline for submitting public comments: by 5 pm
September 25, 2019
NPRM –
Regulatory Information Number 0930-AA32:
Deadline for submitting public
comments: by 5
pm October 25, 2019
Number 0930-AA30 public comments
must be submitted by September 25, 2019 by 5 pm.
Here is
a summary of the main changes that are acceptable:
Consent
Requirements: Patients may consent to release without naming a specific
person to apply for benefits and resources (i.e. SSI)
Disclosures Permitted w/
Written Consent: Payment and health care
operations are permitted with written consent.
Medical
Emergencies: Patient information may be released during declared
emergencies without consent.
Audit
and Evaluation: To resolve current ambiguity, part 2 will be
revised to clarify some situations that fall within the scope.
Here is
a summary of the main changes that are NOT acceptable:
Applicability
and Re-Disclosure: Patient’s records in non-part
2 providers both previous and current are no longer covered.
NAMA-R thinks this is unacceptable and that Part 2 records
needs to maintain the protection that they have always had.
Disposition
of Records: Part 2 program employees may delete a patient message sent
to them on their personal device.
NAMA-R does not believe Part 2 employees should be using
their personal devices for program business. Part 2 programs should set aside the
funds to purchase mobile phones for employees.
Disclosures
to Central Registries and PDMPs: Non-OTP providers may
query a Central Registry to determine if patients are receiving opioid
treatment elsewhere. OTPs will be permitted to enroll in PDMPs when prescribing
Schedule II to V, consistent with applicable state law.
NAMA-R believes Central Registries are an
important part of the treatment system, as they have been for over 40 years,
and can be utilized in ways that protect Confidentiality. However, reporting medication dispensed by
OTPs to state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) would violate the
specific consent requirements of 42 USC 290dd-2. Furthermore, it gives criminal
justice agencies access to persons involved in substance use treatment. This could discourage individuals with OUD
from seeking treatment. Law
enforcement accesses PDMPs at a very high frequency. Many states do not require
a warrant or subpoena for law enforcement access of this highly sensitive
information. This is a very low bar.
Research:
Research may be conducted by HIPAA entities or
business associate to individuals and organizations who are not HIPAA entities,
nor subject to the Common Rule (re: Research on Human Subjects).
NAMA-R supports research involving
patients of SUD treatment as long as confidentiality protections remain in
place. These proposed changes will allow research into OTPs in a way that opens
the door for entities to do marketing research and otherwise violate a
patient’s civil right to confidentiality.
Confidential
Communications: To correct an error from the 2017 rule-making,
the “standard for court ordered disclosures of SUD records for the purpose of investigating
"an extremely serious crime" will be revised, by dropping the phrase
"allegedly committed by the patient."
NAMA-R opposes the proposed changes to this
section. For over forty years, Part 2 has protected people who have sought
treatment for alcohol and drug use from having their own records used against
them in courts, unless it is a case of serious violence or child abuse. It has
never been intended that our SUD treatment records be used in cases
of "drug trafficking" against a patient, or another person. People
seek treatment to recover from substance use disorders, to change their lives,
and believe that the private information they share will be confidential
and protected. One must recall that Part 2 was implemented over a murder
that a community person thought was committed by a patient at an OTP. The
community member was wrong.
Undercover
Agents and Informants: Court-ordered placement of an undercover agent
or informant within a part 2 program will be extended to a period of 12 months,
and courts will be authorized to extend the period through a new court order.
NAMA-R believes that there is no
place for informants in Part 2 programs. Allowing this will frighten
prospective patients from treatment during a time of crisis and will obliterate
the confidentiality protections required by 42 USC 290dd-2.
SAMHSA does not have the authority to implement regulations
that override the U.S. Code and legislation passed by Congress and signed by
the President. Only Congress and the President can change legislative
requirements enshrined in the U.S. Code. SAMHSA, as an Executive Branch agency,
does not have the Constitutional authority to implement changes in 42 CFR Part
2 that override or otherwise attempt to invalidate core requirements and
provisions of 42 USC 290dd-2.
In context
of pervasive stigma and criminalization, patients need MORE privacy protections
for people who use drugs, not less. Better integration between behavioral,
mental, and other health info is necessary to improve care. Giving up privacy
to get there is not a necessary trade-off.
The PDMP
provision is a MAJOR fundamental change that threatens the essential framework
of 42 CFR Part 2 and likely would result in unconstitutional executive
overreach by SAMHSA that would override consent requirements required by 42 USC
290dd-2.
When an
individual seeks treatment, they are acknowledging highly stigmatized and criminalized
behavior. Drug use is subject to enormous negative consequences, including
criminal liability, parental rights, housing, life insurance and other benefits.
Confidentiality currently afforded by 42 CFR Part 2 protects patients from this
discrimination.
The major
function of Part 2 is to create relatively high bar on data access for law
enforcement to assuage patient concerns about surveillance and their
information being used against them. HIPAA provides no patient protection
against law enforcement access of SUD treatment records.
What Should You Do?
What to Expect
This
is called a New Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). The agency that oversees the
regulations begins by posting a Comment Period.
Usually it is 90 days to give everyone the opportunity to write their
comments. SAMHSA only gave 30 days
for Regulatory Information Number
0930-AA30 and 60 days for Regulatory
Information Number 0930-AA32. The standard has always been a 90
day public commenting period, especially when there are significant changes.
Links to the pdf file proposing the
NPRMs is at the beginning and comments can be submitted there.
Everyone that is a patient or an
advocate for patients should comment. You can copy from this Press Release or
write your own. And your comment can be as simple as:
“I am a patient (or advocate for
patients) and this NPRM should not be implemented. Patients in Part 2 programs
have been promised that their information is protected. What will they be told
if these changes are made? These changes
are significant enough to make any therapeutic alliance between patients and
Part 2 programs difficult.
Patients need MORE protection.
Signed Your Name”
Additional support around commenting
with a direct hyperlink to the commenting website, as well as specifics between
the two NRPMs, can be found here:
If you are concerned about signing
your name you could write, “I am afraid to sign my name because of the
discrimination I’ve experienced.”
More Information:
The Fundamentals of Part 2 (Legal Action Center)
SAMHSA to Propose Changes to 42 CFR Part 2
Fight for Patient’s Rights - Dr. Westley Clark, MD, JD, MPH and Danielle Tarino, MA
FLYER
CALL TO ACTION
Leave Comment on
SAMHSA’s Confidentiality Proposals
The federal confidentiality
law and regulations protect the privacy of substance use disorder (SUD) patient
records by prohibiting unauthorized disclosures of patient records except in
limited circumstances. Congress enacted the legislation in the 1970s to
encourage individuals with SUDs to enter and remain in treatment. 42 USC § 290dd-2 is the law. The regulations implementing the law are
at 42 CFR (Code of FederalRegulations) Part 2 and are commonly
referred to as “Part 2.” Core protections against law enforcement and
re-disclosure are just as critical today as they were in the 1970s.
PART 2 is UNDER ATTACK. The Trump Administration’s HHS
Secretary Alex Azar and Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and
Substance Use Elinore McCanze-Katz are overseeing two separate
“Notices of Proposed Rule Making” (NPRM) that seek to obliterate the
core confidentiality protections of Part 2. This one pager contains core
concerns around each NPRM with a direct link to leave Public Comment.
NPRM #1: Proposal
0930-AA30 COMMENTS
DUE by 9/25/19 at 5pm Eastern!
- Would allow personal health information to be shared outside the healthcare system for criminal justice purposes & allow law enforcement “fishing expeditions” in patient records to prosecute individuals enrolled in treatment or use patient records to prosecute others;
- This proposed change is not in line with the best interests of patients seeking treatment for substance use disorders, and it goes against the fundamental reason for 42 CFR Part2;
- These changes will deter people from seeking care out of fear of law enforcement involvement & encourage those enrolled in treatment to leave prematurely;
- It has never been intended in any iteration of Part 2 that SUD treatment records be used in cases of "drug trafficking" against a patient, or another person. SAMHSA should not implement these proposed changes that have the potential to worsen the opioid crisis & deter individuals with OUD from seeking treatment.
NPRM #2: Proposal
0930-AA32 COMMENTS
DUE by 10/25/19 at 5pm Eastern!
- Applicability and Re-Disclosure: Patient’s records in non-part 2 providers both previous and current are no longer covered. This is unacceptable, as re-disclosure protections are critical to the core confidentiality protections and purposes of Part 2.
- Disclosures to Central Registries and PDMPs: This is one of the most frightening proposals that would obliterate the consent requirement of 42 USC 290dd-2 and allow any individual with a login to the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) to access information regarding an individual’s SUD treatment without their consent. NO SUD treatment information, including SUD treatment medications, should be uploaded into the PDMP. Law enforcement routinely accesses PDMPs in many states. This issue should not be “kicked” to the states, as core civil rights should always be protected federally.
- Undercover Agents and Informants: Court-ordered placement of an undercover agent or informant within a Part 2 program will be allowed for a period of 12 months. There is no place for informants in SUD treatment programs. Allowing this will frighten prospective & current patients from treatment during a time of crisis and will obliterate the confidentiality protections required by 42 USC 290dd-2.
Friday, July 26, 2019
Letter to U.S. Congress
House of Representatives
and Senate
U.S. Congress
Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C.
Dear Congresspersons and Senators:
The National Alliance for Medication
Assisted Recovery is an organization of medication assisted treatment (MAT)
patients and health care professionals supporting quality health care.
Currently the United States is in
the midst of a serious opioid epidemic. Every
attempt should be made to encourage individuals with a Substance Use Disorder
(SUD) to enter treatment. Patients
concerns about entering treatment such as privacy are not being considered. Instead,
insurance companies, EHR vendors, profit hungry health care networks and
others interested in whose interest is
in profit from individuals suffering from alcohol use disorders and drug use
disorders propose to make substance use disorder treatment unappealing by
gutting 42 USC 290dd-2 and 42 CFR Part
2, the federal substance use disorder confidentiality law and regulations.
You will be asked to vote for
legislation that will diminish a person’s confidentiality and that MAT patients
take very seriously. Please do not take
this protection from us.
The opponents of the current 42
USC 290dd-2 and 42 CFR Part 2, claim that the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) is sufficient. But, they know that HIPAA offers less
confidentiality protection than the current federal substance use disorder
confidentiality law and regulations.
Less protection means a greater risk of harm from disclosure for those
in treatment or in Recovery.
In fact, the
limitations to confidentiality protection offered by HIPAA’s exceptions to
confidentiality will certainly discourage those with a substance use disorder
to postpone, delay or refuse to acknowledge that they have a substance use
disorder.
Most MAT
patients are not aware of the attack on their confidentiality that they have
trusted and believed in since entering treatment. We do not have powerful
lobbyists in Washington to make inaccurate arguments (i.e. 1. health care will
be safer, 2. patients are not concerned with confidentiality, 3. it is
necessary to be able to know if a patient is in SUD treatment).
Vote No On Changing
42 USC 290dd-2 and 42 CFR Part 2
Aligning 42
CFR Part 2 with HIPAA and by ignoring the potential harm caused by weakening 42
CFR Part 2, only those with the most severe substance use disorders will seek
treatment. It will also force many currently in treatment to leave resulting in
placing them at great risk of relapse and adding to current opioid overdose
epidemic. The more stability a MAT patient attains the more they have to lose
if there SUD is known.
In 2017, 20
million people met criteria for SUDs, BUT only 2.5 million of these received
treatment. Why?
Not because of
42 CFR Part 2, but because 94% of those who needed SUD treatment but did not
receive treatment did not feel they needed treatment.
This
percentage will rise even higher when it becomes known that those receiving SUD
treatment will not be able to decide who has access to their SUD treatment
information. Upon admission to SUD
treatment the program explains the many exceptions to confidentiality that
HIPAA permits. This information go out to the streets and many people will decide
that help for their SUD is not worth it. They will believe they can “kick it”
on their own, but if that were true they would not need help.
Because of
discrimination, stigma, and negative attitudes about those with SUDs, people in
Recovery have enough barriers to employment that pays a living wage, housing
that protects against the elements, and social support that does not alienate
them for having suffered the disease of SUD. Even decent medical care is difficult and once
their treatment for a SUD is known they are often treated as second class
citizen patients. Allowing a person’s history of SUD treatment to be disclosed
without their consent increases their social disadvantage. HIPAA permits such
an unconsented disclosure to a broad range of entities.
Congress has
appropriated billions of dollars to address the opioid crisis and to promote SUD
treatment. Please do not waste this
investment by scaring away the very people those dollars were meant to help!
Insurance companies, EHR vendors and profit hungry health care networks claim a
need for better care coordination; they aren’t treating the vast majority of
people with substance use disorders. And from our experience they do not want
to treat persons with a SUD. A change in
42 USC 290dd-2, and they’ll be treating even fewer people.
There are
technological fixes already in existence that would allow health information
sharing while protecting the ability of those who need treatment to determine who
should have access to their health information.
Software
vendors have argued that there are no financial incentives to incorporate these
patient centered fixes into proprietary platforms. In fact, the federal
government sponsored the development of just such fixes. The software market place finds it cheaper
and easier to sacrifice the autonomy of the unpowerful and the poor, rather
than make the necessary change to their software.
An estimated
20 million Americans have recovered from alcohol and drug related
problems. With the proposed changes in
42 USC 290dd-2 and 42 CFR Part 2, many people in Recovery will find themselves
subject to inappropriate information disclosures; no longer will People in Recovery
have to be consulted before their SUD histories be disclosed to entities with
the power to harm the affected individuals.
While insurers
and cost-cutting health networks are attempting to deny people in Recovery the
ability to determine who gets the information about prior alcohol or drug use
disorders, the rest of society is marshalling resources to protect their
personal information against misuse. An
example of privacy vigilance can be found in the New York Times “The Privacy
Project”, which acknowledges that companies and governments “are gaining new
powers to follow people across the internet and around the world, and even to
peer into their genomes.”
Creating a new
path to stigmatize people in Recovery or in SUD treatment is unconscionable.
Effective SUD treatment requires trust between provider and patient; in the
absence of trust, full disclosure of such issues as trauma, rape, abuse,
depression, anxiety, anger, discrimination or other sensitive issues that may
be linked to substance use is not possible.
Without trust, there will be no truth.
Men and women
bring a host of highly sensitive personal issues into treatment. Without the assurance of confidentiality that
the current 42 USC 290dd-2 and 42 CFR Part 2 promises, it will become very
difficult for treatment to progress; such treatment will become adversarial at
worse and a game at best. As a result,
treatment will be hindered and Recovery delayed.
The current opioid
crisis is being used as a justification for gutting 42 USC 290dd-2 and 42 CFR
Part 2. More people, currently misuse
alcohol than currently misuse opioids. While it is estimated that 3.5 million
people currently misuse opioids, 2.2 million misuse cocaine, 774,000 are
current users of methamphetamine, 16.7 million are heavy alcohol users, and
66.6 million are binge alcohol drinkers. More people are in treatment for
alcohol use disorders than for all illicit drug use disorders. While opioid
overdose deaths are an important public health issue, promoting person centered
SUD treatment that involves patient consent to disclosure is also important.
Protect Our
Confidentiality Keep 42 CFR Part 2 As Is
Protect Patient
Autonomy - Nurture Patient Clinician Trust
Encourage
Treatment Seeking
Preserve Patient’s Right To Decide
Using the current opioid crisis as a reason
to change federal substance use disorder confidentiality laws and regulations is
merely an excuse to reduce the cost and effort of treatment a goal they have
been after for after a decade. These anti
42 USC 290dd-2 and 42 CFR Part 2
entities do not care about the difficulties that persons in Recovery face.
Neither are they concerned with the further discrimination against people who
need help recovering from their substance use.
Please use your vote to encourage people to
enter treatment, Vote NO on legislation that would weaken 42 USC 290dd-2 and 42
CFR Part 2.
Sincerely,
Joycelyn Sue Woods, M.A., C.A.R.C., C.M.A.
Acting President
Download PDF Letter
http://www.methadone.org/downloads/namaletters/2019 0726NAMAR congress.pdf
Thursday, July 11, 2019
NAMA Recovery Calls on Federal and State Officials to Help Patients Get Medication During Tropical Storm Barry
National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery
Press Release
Contacts Persons:
Joycelyn Woods, Executive Director, edirector@methadone.org
Phone/Fax: 1 212-595-NAMA (1-212-595-6262)
For Release
July 11, 2019
NAMA Recovery and our
chapters have begun to receive calls and messages from Medication Assisted
Treatment (MAT) patients in the areas affected by Tropical Storm Barry.
The majority of clinics are
giving medication through Sunday, July 14, 2019 when weather reports are
predicting severe flooding following the storm. Patients are reporting that
they are not being given medication because they cannot pay for it.
There are some clinics that
are already experiencing flooding in the surrounding areas making it impossible
to get there.
The
Southeastern NAMA-R Chapter is in ongoing Communication with Louisiana and
surrounding state authorities, and they are welcome to reach out to us and
watch our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NAMARecoverywww.facebook.com/NAMARecovery if they have any questions or need
support. (Or our Southeast Chapter
This should not be a repeat
of Katrina when every clinic is the New Orleans area was flooded and patients
were not able to get medication for a week or more.
This is the responsibility of the Health and Human Services
(HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),
Veterans Administration (VA) and state agencies to have disaster plans in place
for when emergencies occur. (The SAMHSA Disaster
App is not working giving the message that it is downloading information and
then tells you to try back later. In a disaster you can’t try back later.) It
appears that the New Orleans area may again have a disaster in the making that
could have been avoided if agencies had come up with a solution following the
Katrina disaster.
Date: 7/11/2019
This is the
latest information we have on New Orleans clinics. It is from NASADAD’s
Disaster Preparedness List. Please check for updates on our FaceBook Page https://www.facebook.com/NAMARecovery . Or our Southeast Chapter https://www.facebook.com/groups/NAMARecoveryTN/
BHG Lake
Charles: Open today & giving take
home doses for Friday and Saturday.
BHG Downtown
New Orleans: Expected water by this
afternoon because every street near them has flooded (see media). WDSU (local television station) has let their
employees leave.
BHG
Greta: Expected water this afternoon.
BAART Breau
Bridge: Regular hours today & Friday
issuing take home doses. Closed Saturday & Sunday.
Acadiana
Baton Rouge: Today until 11 am, Friday
5:15 – 8 am, Sat 6:30 – 8 (this clinic didn’t flood in 2016 but was surrounded
by water).
Centers for
Behavioral Health Monroe & Shreveport:
Supportive role for guest doses at their clinics & have been advised
of possibility of shelters.
Choices all
3 clinics (Alexandria, LaPlace & Hammond):
Extended hours today (7/11/19) & all 3 clinics open tomorrow until
10 am. Saturday will assess. Alexandria
Saturday 7-9 am. (LaPlace & Hammond didn’t flood in 2016). All 3 of Choices clinics have industrial
generators.
NAMA-R has
received reports that some clinics are not giving patient’s emergency
medication unless they pay for it. Barry
seems to be picking up strength and may become a Hurricane 1 storm. There is
also severe flooding expected after and it seems reasonable to get medication
through Tuesday, 7/16/19.
Monday, May 06, 2019
Carmen Beatrice Pearman Arlt, LMSW, CAC, CMA 1955 – 2019
National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery
Press Release
Contacts Persons:
Joycelyn Woods, Executive Director, edirector@methadone.org
Carmen Pearman-Arlt, President, carlt@porterstarke.org♰
Phone/Fax: 1.212.595.NAMA
(1-212-595-62620
For Release
May 6, 2019
64, passed away December 9, 2018 after a
long illness.
In the early 1990s NAMA Recovery was mailed an index card
with dimes taped to it and a short message saying they could not afford $10 for
membership and this was all they had. It was Carmen Pearman. Like all
letters we receive from patients she received a letter back saying that we
would rather have her advocacy than money.
Carmen organized one of our oldest chapters The MAG
(Methadone Advocacy Group). One of the things the group decided to do was clean
the street around their clinic. While they were out picking up garbage
and sweeping the street when the Reverend from the church across the street
came out to warn them about those addicts over there. Carmen explained that
they were those addicts. From this encounter patients were given space in the
church to set up 12 step groups and to have meetings. The following year there
was a big drug conference In Indiana and the chapter acted as the color guard
for the governor when he entered the arena. I remember Carmen sending a picture
of them all dressed in white shirts, navy bow ties for women and regular ties
for men and navy pants.
Carmen went back to school and earned an MSW and was
continuing her education a PhD in social work when she became ill.
She received the Dole Nyswander
Award (Marie) in 2001 for organizing the state provider organization. The state
of Indiana had no representation and clinics saw each other more as competitors
than associates working for a common cause. She helped to establish the clinics
in their current state organization.
The past few years she developed
the program for women and children at Porter Starke (Valparaiso, IN) in
addition to being President of NAMA Recovery.
She resided in Hanna, Indiana and is survived by two
sons: David and Erich and three great-grandchildren.
NAMA Recovery will miss Ms. Pearman’s dedication and compassion to patients and the
field.
(Information
for this Press Release was published in the Post Tribune on
Feb. 10, 2019.)
Herman Joseph, PhD 1931 – 2019
National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery
Press Release
Contacts Persons:
Joycelyn Woods, Executive Director, edirector@methadone.org
Carmen Pearman-Arlt, President, carlt@porterstarke.org♰
Phone/Fax: 1.212.595.NAMA
(1-212-595-6262)
For Release
May 6, 2019
Dr. Joseph was one
of the important influences on addiction and criminal justice during the latter
20th and early 21st century. For more than 50 years he has worked as a
social research scientist in the interrelated fields of addiction, treatment,
criminal justice, street studies, homelessness, basic research and program
development at the NYC Office of Probation, the Rockefeller University and the
NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS).
In the early 1970’s Dr. Joseph
negotiated services, both personnel and facilities and developed in a citywide
network of five probation methadone clinics. In these programs he developed the
first vocational guidance and employment service for unemployed probationers,
and, with the NYC Department of Health, the first urine testing service in probation.
These initiatives changed heroin addiction from an intractable problem for
probation into a manageable issue. He was a member of the team that developed
the first ‘in jail’ methadone maintenance program, known as KEEP, for addicted
prisoners in Rikers Island Jail; an intervention that has been implemented
across many countries throughout the world.
In the mid-1970s Dr. Joseph joined
Dr. Vincent P. Dole at The Rockefeller University to plan, conduct and
supervise the first detailed large-scale follow-up study of patients who left
methadone treatment (Dole and Joseph, 1978).
In the mid 1980’s he joined the NY
State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) and a member of
the research team. During the AIDS epidemic prisoners that were drug users and
HIV positive were put in an old building at Riker’s Island. The building was awful. The windows were
sealed and temperatures rose in he Summer and during he cold months there was
often no heat, it was infested with roaches and rats and sometimes the inmates
did not get their medication. Dr. Joseph
and other OASAS employees brought bagels to the inmates every Saturday morning.
Eventually the group went on a Food Strike to get the attention of the city and
the result was a new building.
He organized the Crack Cocaine
Research Working Group, later known as the Chemical Dependency Research Working
Group (CDRWG) in the mid-1990s with the support of grants from the Aaron
Diamond Foundation. Dr. Joseph organized a series of symposia and conferences
covering major aspects of addiction, research and treatment, including a
consortium of major medical centers to study neonates exposed to cocaine/crack
in utero. Other projects and studies included addressing the HIV epidemic in
NYC including: the need for harm reduction services and the spread of HIV, HBV
and HCV among street/homeless population who used shelters, soup kitchens and
medical vans; presenting the first conference on chemical dependency and
disability as well as the first conference on hepatitis C and the chemically
dependent patient; assisting mentally ill homeless to obtain housing; studies
of the biology of crack cocaine, pain management and chemically dependent
patients, and helping to set up and evaluate methadone medical maintenance programs
in NY State.
During the 1990’s he also set up
several Medical Maintenance Programs (Office Based Opioid Treatment) throughout
the state.
He also authored a major study on
social stigma targeting the methadone program and patients and worked at introducing
the use of the buprenorphine-naloxone combination in harm
reduction and at Rikers Island jail.
Dr. Joseph authored or co-authored
over 125 published papers and government reports and, with David Courtwright
and Don DesJarlais, co-authored the book, Addicts Who Survived.
With Dr. Barry Stimmel he edited the book, The Neurobiology of Cocaine
Addiction. He was editor of special issues of the Mount Sinai Journal
of Medicine and the Journal of Addictive Diseases and has
also given numerous presentations on addiction and other topics at national and
international conferences.
Dr. Joseph has served on NAMA
Recovery’s Board of Directors and Advisory Board and was our Ambassador at
Large.
Commendations and Awards: Sen.
Jacob Javits had Dr. Joseph’s paper on probation methadone clinics entered into
the Congressional Record (1971); Commendation in 1974 from the commissioner of probation,
John Wallace, for developing the probation methadone clinics and the Vocational
Guidance Program in the Bronx; Nyswander/Dole “Marie” Award (1991); Life-time
Legacy Award and Proclamation from City of Cleveland (1999); NAMA Recovery
Award as Honorary Patient (2003); and Award from International Association for
Pain and Chemical Dependency (2007).
We at NAMA Recovery will miss Dr. Joseph he was a friend to
patients and professionals.
References
Dole,
V.P. and Joseph, H. 1978. Long term outcome of patients treated with
methadone maintenance. Annals of
the New York Academy of Sciences 311: 181-189.
Courtwright, D., Joseph, H. Des Jarlais, D 1989. Addicts Who
Survived. Univ of Tennessee Press; 1 edition.
Joseph, H., Simmel, B. 1997.
The Neurobiology of Cocaine Addiction: From Bench to Bedside. Routledge;
1 edition.
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
Nominations Open for the Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient Advocacy Award
National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery
Press Release
Contacts Persons:
Joycelyn Woods, Executive Director, edirector@methadone.org
Carmen Pearman-Arlt, President, carlt@porterstarke.org
Phone/Fax: 1.212.595.NAMA (1-212-595-62620
For Release
April 3, 2019
Nominations Open for the
Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient Advocacy Award
Richard Lane was a long-term heroin user who, upon release
from prison in 1967, was instrumental in establishing one of the Nation’s first
methadone treatment programs. In 1974, he became the Executive Director of Man
Alive and later served as Vice President of the American Methadone Treatment
Association (now AATOD) and as Vice Chairman of the Governor’s Council on
Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Maryland. Mr.
Lane was a passionate advocate for methadone treatment and, by disclosing his
own treatment experiences, provided inspiration to patients and colleagues
alike.
Robert Holden was also a recovering heroin user, who later
became the Director of PIDARC, an outpatient methadone treatment program in the
District of Columbia. He was a friend of
Richard Lane and succeeded Richard Lane’s term of office as the Vice President
of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence. This award was established in 1995 and
recognizes extraordinary achievements in patient advocacy.
The following criteria should be applied in making your
selection:
- Only one (1) nominee can be submitted to the Conference Awards Committee. There may be a number of nominees however only one (1) “consensus” nominee may receive this honor.
- The nominee must have been involved in the field of methadone advocacy for a period of five (5) years.
- The nominee must have made meaningful and consistent contributions, which have had a significant impact on opioid treatment within a state o
- For each nominee a Nomination Form must be completed and submitted with two (2) Letters of Support. The Nomination Form and this announcement and can also be downloaded from the NAMA Recovery website http://www.methadone.org and the President’s Blog http://nama-president.blogspot.com/
· NAMA Recovery will be responsible for collecting all the
submissions for nomination and selecting a committee of advocates that will
decide on the final candidate. The
Candidate’s Name, Nomination Form and at least two (2) Letters of Support
describing the nominee’s achievements will be submitted to the AATOD Conference
Awards Committee for the final approval.
The deadline for Submissions is April 10, 2019. The completed Nomination Form along with at
least two (2) Letters of Support should be sent to Joycelyn Woods at
edirector@methadone.org.
Previous Winners of the Award
1995, Arizona Richard Lane
2001, St. Louis Joycelyn Woods
2007, San Diego Anthony Scro
2009, New York Walter Ginter
2010, Chicago Lisa Mojer Torres
2012, Las Vegas Roxanne Baker
2013, Philadelphia Ira Marion
2015, Atlanta Claude
Hopkins
2016, Baltimore Brenda Davis
2017 New York Paul
Bowman
This Award will be bestowed upon the recipient during the
Awards Banquet Ceremony on Tuesday, October 22, 2019 during AATOD’s next
National Conference which will convene at the Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando,
Florida.
The recipient will be provided with a round trip Coach Class
airfare, up to two (2) nights in the hotel and Conference Registration.
Deadline: April 10, 2019
Email Nominations
To: Joycelyn Woods edirector@methadone.org
If you have any questions about the award contact Joycelyn
Woods at edirector@methadone.org or by telephone at 917-846-9983
Download Press Release
Download NOMINATION FORM docx
Download NOMINATION FORM pdf
Monday, July 02, 2018
Congratulations Walter Ginter
National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery
Press Release
Contacts Persons:
Joycelyn Woods, Executive Director, edirector@methadone.org
Carmen Pearman-Arlt, President, carlt@porterstarke.org
Phone/Fax: 1.212.595.NAMA (1-212-595-62620
For Release
July 2, 2018
Recipient of the 2018
Lisa Mojer-Torres Award
America Honors Recovery is Faces & Voices of Recovery's
annual awards gala which celebrates and honors the most influential recovery
community leaders and organizations. The event salutes the legacies of three
dynamic recovery trailblazers who dedicated their lives to removing barriers
for individuals and families affected by addiction.
THE LISA
MOJER-TORRES AWARD
The Lisa Mojer-Torres Award honors a tenacious fighter who
believed in the dignity and rights of every person. Her inquiring and
challenging mind offered new insights and by example, she encouraged us to
stand up and speak out on behalf of all pathways to recovery, including the use
of medications.
Lisa sat on the Board of Directors of NAMA Recovery twice. In
the mid-1990s as a Vice President she helped to reorganize NAMA
Recovery. She left the board to work on the founding of Faces & Voices
of Recovery (FAVOR) and as the first Chair of the organization. Her
determination and advocacy contributed to a significant shift in the recovery
community and the need to end discriminatory policies directed at MAT patients.
After leaving FAVOR she joined the NAMA Recovery Board of
Directors a second time to serve as legal liaison.
Lisa fit her passion and advocacy into an already busy life -
giving of her time and talent while juggling work and family life with her
husband Roland and sons Matthew and Liam. She brought her story of recovery
with compassion to diverse communities and tailored her communications to fit
each audience – be it service providers, researchers, policymakers, family
members or people seeking or in long-term recovery. She was a recovery
communicator – speaking clearly, poignantly and passionately about her own
experiences. She built lasting bridges across the recovery community, “the more
we learn about addiction, the advances of science, the full range of treatments
and the variety of paths leading to recovery, the better prepared we will be to
choose our own path.”
Lisa was everywhere. She was an attorney who specialized in
civil rights law for persons in recovery. Her advocacy activities spanned
television and press interviews, Congressional testimony, policy advisor (from
the Institute of Medicine to CSAT’s National Advisory Committee), one-on-one
lobbying, author, and relentless educator and courageous defender. Lisa died in
2011 after a prolonged struggle with ovarian cancer.
We salute
her tireless, passionate, committed advocacy for recovery.
Walter
Ginter
Walter Ginter is a founding Project Director of the Medication
Assisted Recovery Support (M.A.R.S.) Project. The M.A.R.S. Project is designed
to provide peer recovery support to persons whose recovery from opiate
addiction is assisted by medication. It is collaboration with the Division of
Substance Abuse, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University.
Beyond MARS Training, Mr. Ginter has worked for the last five years training
OTP's, RCO's, and government organizations on how to implement peer recovery
support services for the medication assisted recovery community.
Mr. Ginter, a former Board Director for Faces and Voices of
Recovery (FaVoR), was a Member of the National Policy and Planning Committee,
and the Accreditation sub-committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors
for the National Alliance for Medication Assisted (NAMA) Recov-ery the premier
advocacy and recovery for MAT patients.
Mr. Ginter was a planning partner for National Recovery Month.
Additionally, he has served on several committees of the New York State Office
of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) as a voice for MAT patients.
He has been a member of more than thirty federal expert panels and advisory
groups.
Mr. Ginter received the Richard Lane/Robert Holden Patient
Advocacy Award "in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to MAT
patients and the field of opiate addiction treatment" at the 2009 American
Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD) National Conference
in NYC, the Vernon Johnson America Honors Recovery Award from FAVOR and the
Robert Savage Advocate of the Year from the Connecticut Committee for Addiction
Recovery Award (CCAR).
Congratulations,
Walter, for your commitment and dedication
to making
MAT treatment better for patients.
We at NAMA
Recovery are so proud.
Posts
