Methamphetamine- and Cocaine-Addicted Offenders Respond Positively to Pilot Program in Pierce County, Washington; Pierce County Alliance Finds Medically-Based Treatment Protocol Yields Higher Rate of Success Than Prior Treatment Approaches
Articles / dBNews Seattle
Date: Friday, June 23, 2006 03:32:07

SEATTLE -- The Pierce County Alliance (PCA) today announced preliminary results of a pilot program for methamphetamine- and cocaine-dependence treatment that found over the program's monitoring period, 92.5 percent of participants remained drug-free while 98 percent of weekly random urine analyses tested negative for substance abuse, a level of success not previously achieved by the PCA.

With the success of the 90-day, 40-patient pilot program, PCA will now move forward with adopting the PROMETA(TM) protocol as a treatment option for its criminal justice clients.

According to a 2005 report on drug abuse trends, Pierce County had seven times the number of per capita methamphetamine incidents than King County -- the state's most populous county. Methamphetamine incidents were defined as a combination of active labs used for manufacturing and dump sites of lab equipment or inactive labs. Currently servicing approximately 2,000 individuals, PCA is the primary substance dependence treatment provider for the County's drug offenders.

In order to assess the effectiveness of PROMETA, Terree Schmidt-Whelan, Ph.D., Executive Director of the PCA, offered the pilot program as an option for methamphetamine- and/or cocaine-addicted drug court clients who were struggling to maintain abstinence.

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Those preliminary reports on the success ratios are very good for that program!!! It is good to know something such as that is being made available in Washington...I hope it spreads country-wide with results like that!!!! Thanks so much for posting this!!!!

...I hope it spreads country-wide with results like that!!!! Thanks so much for posting this!!!!


The newspaper can reach only so many readers....... but PTO is worldwide!!!

I hope the positive results continue, and that people everywhere start asking for the treatment!!!!

JJT

thanks for posting

I spoke with a representative from PROMETA months ago when this new 'treatment' first came out. I did not discuss the procedure for alcohol, only stimulants. He said it was a medical intervention that reduces or eliminates the withdrawals, anxiety and cravings on a biological level. He claims that PROMETA has the ability to reset the brains receptors. I inquired about the medicine that is given during the treatment, he said they would not divulge the information (patent pending) but that they are FDA approved for medical conditions other than addiction. I inquired about side effects from the medicine and he said the only ones they have seen are anxiety and drowsiness. This prompted me to ask if they were opiate or benzo based to which he assured me they were not. The patient receives a full medical exam, EKG, and Chest X-rays before the procedure that is 1 ½ hours a day for 3 days with IV medicines and nutritional supplements. With an additional 2 procedures 21 days after the first treatment sessions. The success rate and number of patients that have gone thru the procedure is also a company secret. There are 32 sites in the US that do this at a cost of $17,000. Of which $1500 is set aside for aftercare with a psychotherapist. Sounds like another BIG-TIME SCAM to me.

http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146017 (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146017)

Shelby that doesn't sound so good does it? Seems like they need to get the FDA approval in a hurry for addiction!!!!!!!

Thank you for the information Shelby!!

JJT

Wow ..... It's so refreshing to know that finally some form of treatment is proving to be effective!