Two years after rules overhaul, have methadone clinics really changed?

In 2024, following backlash from patient groups and scrutiny from lawmakers, the federal government issued a long-awaited overhaul of methadone clinic regulations. The changes included greater flexibility over take-home medications and stressed that counseling should be offered but not required as a condition of receiving medication. The deeper question was whether clinics and state-level agencies would make a sweeping cultural shift away from punitive, rigid attitudes.