Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 2006--Hythiam, Inc. (NASDAQ:HYTM), a healthcare services management company that licenses the PROMETA(R) treatment protocols designed to treat alcohol, methamphetamine and cocaine dependence, announced today that it is expanding in the south Florida region, and has licensed PROMETA to Fort Lauderdale-based Challenges treatment center. Challenges is a high end residential treatment facility that also offers patients the option of outpatient treatment.

Challenges specializes in relapse prevention treatment and is the first and only treatment center which has been awarded national certification as a Center of Excellence in relapse treatment and prevention by one of the leading international experts in the treatment of relapse, Terence Gorski. In its publication Approaches to Drug Abuse Counseling (ADAC) The National Institute of Drug abuse (NIDA) recognized the top three "best known and most respected treatment approaches in the United States" as the Hazelden Foundation, the Betty Ford Center, and the GORSKI-CENAPS Model for relapse prevention.

"We are looking forward to incorporating the PROMETA treatment protocols into our diversified treatment program," said the Founder of Challenges, Dale Redlich. "Many, if not most, addicted patients can benefit from an integrated approach that combines medical intervention with psychosocial therapy. We believe that PROMETA will benefit those patients who need help with initiating abstinence, as well as those who are seeking relapse prevention."

"Severely relapse prone patients have developed brain adaptations that can prevent them from meaningfully engaging in cognitive behavioral therapy," said Gorski. "By using a protocol such as PROMETA, there is hope to greatly improve a patient's ability to immediately respond to cognitive behavioral addiction treatment. Also, over time, there may be patients who find they are primarily 'PROMETA responders,' in that the protocol may work for patients who have difficulty with purely psychosocial forms of relapse prevention."

Mr. Gorski is an internationally recognized expert on substance dependence, mental health, violence, and crime. He is best known for his contributions in the field of relapse prevention, managing chemically dependent offenders, and developing community-based teams for managing the problems of alcohol, drugs, violence, and crime. He is a prolific author and has published numerous books and articles on the subject of relapse in addictive disease.

"We are pleased to partner with a specialized treatment facility such as Challenges," said Terren Peizer, Hythiam's chairman and CEO. "As a facility that is highly concentrated on providing their clients with the tools to avoid relapsing into addictive behaviors, we are gratified that PROMETA will be among the tools employed at this leading treatment center. With the addition of Challenges, Hythiam continues to build out the South Florida region which is a geographically important region in Hythiam's private pay business segment."

About Challenges
Challenges is a state licensed and JCAHO accredited treatment facility located in the greater Ft. Lauderdale, Florida area. Challenges provides quality treatment on multiple levels of care including residential treatment as well as various day and evening outpatient programs. Challenges offers a wide variety of treatment modalities which incorporate an integrated approach to the treatment of chemical dependency, chronic relapse, relapse prevention, compulsive behaviors, and dual and multi-occurring disorders. The Challenges philosophy of care is to provide individualized, holistic treatment with flexible lengths of stay within a structured, goal-directed, and caring environment, all of which provides each patient with the maximum chance of both current and future success. This is accomplished through Challenges high staff to patient ratio which utilizes a multidisciplinary team of highly experienced professionals in the fields of addiction medicine, psychiatry, nursing, licensed masters level treatment professionals, family treatment and trauma specialists, PhD level therapists, certified addiction treatment specialists, as well as relapse treatment and prevention specialists.

About PROMETA(R)
Hythiam's PROMETA(R) treatment protocols are designed for use by healthcare providers seeking to treat individuals diagnosed with dependencies to alcohol, cocaine or methamphetamine, as well as combinations of these drugs. The PROMETA treatment protocols comprise nutritional supplements, FDA-approved oral and IV medications used off-label and separately administered in a unique dosing algorithm, as well as psychosocial or other recovery-oriented therapy chosen by the patient and his or her treatment provider. As a result, PROMETA represents an innovative approach to managing alcohol, cocaine, or methamphetamine dependence that is designed to address physiological, nutritional, and psychosocial aspects of the disease, and is thereby intended to offer patients an opportunity to achieve sustained recovery. To learn more, please visit www.prometainfo.com.

About Hythiam, Inc.
Hythiam(R) is a healthcare services management company focused on delivering solutions for those suffering from alcoholism and other substance dependencies. Hythiam researches, develops, licenses and commercializes innovative physiological, nutritional, and behavioral treatment protocols that seek to address substance dependence. Additionally, Hythiam provides proprietary administrative services to assist physicians and facilities with staff education, training, marketing and outreach support, and outcomes tracking for data analysis. For further information, please click on www.hythiam.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. These risk factors include, among others, limited operating history and lack of statistically significant formal research studies, the risk that treatment protocols might not be effective, difficulty in developing, exploiting and protecting proprietary technologies, intense competition and substantial regulation in the healthcare industry; and additional risks factors as discussed in the reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on its website at http://www.sec.gov.