File Under: Irony; You Can't Stop a Good Man

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - May 13, 2014 - PRLog -- On May 6, the Massachusetts Special Committee of the State Senate to Study Drug Addiction and Treatment asked Dr. Punyamurtula Kishore for his expert testimony on the subject.

The Committee was chaired by Leominster Senator Jennifer Flanagan. Other members include Senator John Keenan from Quincy, Senator Linda Dorcena Forray from Dorchester and Senator Joan Lovely from Salem. The committee was conducting a Public Listening Tour focused on the dramatic increase in drug overdoses and deaths over the past two years.

Dr. Kishore, developer of a nationally recognized treatment program for drug addiction made a 10 point presentation to the committee suggesting viable options for the state to pursue.

Kishore suggested that the state mandate addiction management education for the nearly 40,000 physicians in Massachusetts, along with promoting a “Pro-Sobriety Stance” as a first option for treatment and decreasing reliance on narcotic assisted therapies.

Kishore’s treatment methods, known as the Massachusetts Model, have won local, national and international awards for their effectiveness and success in controlling addiction. He is best known for his non-narcotic program for sobriety, a unique multi-discipline approach that has proven to be exponentially more successful than methods using methadone or suboxone.

There is irony in the Committee members requesting Dr. Kishore’s input. Kishore is currently under indictment by Attorney General Martha Coakley. The AG charged Kishore in September of 2011 with multiple counts of Medicaid and Medicare fraud, accusing him of an elaborate ‘kickback’ scheme involving laboratory test reimbursements. As of yet, no one from the AG's office has been able to explain how the scheme worked, or provide documentation to prove the charges.

The charges resulted in the forced closure of 52 clinics across the state, leaving thousand of patients without treatment. Since that time drug overdoses, many resulting in death, have skyrocketed across the state, leaving officials scrambling for answers.

Kishore has been waiting for the opportunity to defend himself against charges that the AG’s office seems reluctant to bring to trial. The case has been continued 11 times since Kishore’s arrest; the investigator in the case resigned last year and the lead prosecutor left the AG’s office last month, leading to speculation that the case may be unwinnable. There are also whispers that the bad publicity generated by what may be a wrongful prosecution will cause irreparable damage to Martha Coakley’s gubernatorial campaign.

Meanwhile, Kishore continues to help wherever he can, counseling individuals and families wrestling with addiction problems, consulting with professionals interested in his methods, and speaking with committees and groups seeking his expert advice.

His work is uncompensated; mounting legal fees while waiting for the state to present their case have bankrupted him. Yet he continues to reach out to help others…even the politicians dealing with the consequences of closing an effective drug treatment program.

Supporters of Kishore have set up a website in his behalf: www.KishoresStory.info.