STATE ORDERS PARKERSBURG PAIN CLINIC TO CLOSE - "Pill Mills" In WV Scrutinized

(04/29/2015)
Two more pain management clinics in the Mountain State have been ordered to close after they failed state inspections.

The West Virginia Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification ordered Punnamma Memorial Rehab Clinic in Wood County to close by May 21.

The Punnamma Clinic was widely used by regional residents.

A May 15 deadline for Hope Clinic in Raleigh County has been ordered closed.

The agency's director, Jolynn Marra, told The Charleston Gazette that both clinics didn't meet requirements to be licensed.

Three other WV clinics have been closed since January for failing to comply with a 2012 law aimed at reducing substance abuse.

West Virginia leads the nation in poison deaths, most drug related.

In a recent Gallup survey, more than 28% of state residents reported using mind-altering drugs to relax nearly every day, the highest proportion in the nation.

Details related to the closures were not yet available, but there are efforts to monitor pain clinics, some of which have been identified as pill mills.

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