Authorities recently requested that federal agencies conduct more inspections and investigations into drug rehabs and other addiction treatment facilities located in South Florida.
Senator Mark Rubio wrote a letter to urge the U.S. Attorney General to specifically target unethical drug rehabs and deceiving practices previously seen in the state’s addiction treatment industry.
There are hundreds of licensed drug rehabs and treatment centers in South Florida and it is estimated that there are at least 300 licensed addiction treatment centers located just in Palm Beach County.
Most of the drug rehabs in South Florida opened their doors within the past few years.
But during the last few years, the number of drug overdoses that took place in the area also increased exponentially — Palm Beach County alone had almost 5,000 overdoses just in 2016. A lot of the overdose deaths were found to have occurred among people receiving addiction treatment, especially after they had left inpatient programs at drug rehabs and started receiving outpatient treatment.
Rubio used the letter to address specific representatives of the federal agencies, such as the Department of Labor. He also mentioned that there have been mainstream media reports as well as criminal records showing that many out-of-state patients with opioid use disorders had passed away after overdosing while they were supposed to be receiving treatment in drug rehabs across Florida.
National Leader
Palm Beach County State Attorney, Dave Aronberg, has also displayed his support for the senator’s stance on issues related to substance use disorders and recovery.
Aronberg recently requested a grand jury to look into the cases of corruption in addiction treatment facilities and drug rehabs in the area.
He stated that he believes that “this is the number one criminal justice issue and the public-health crisis facing the state.”
Aronberg has managed to turn Palm Beach County into a national leader in the fight for appropriate addiction treatment conduct after he became responsible for convening a special task force to investigate practices and providers of the South Florida addiction treatment industry — the Palm Beach County Sober Homes Task Force.
The task force was established in 2016 and during its first year it had made a total of 44 arrests and 13 convictions.
Neighboring Efforts
Other authorities in South Florida have taken steps to… (continue reading)
Author: Livia Areas-Holmblad
Livia Holmblad is an editor at Addiction Now and covers breaking news, features and everything in between. She moved to SoCal after living in NYC for about 10 years, where she worked for VICE and SinoVision as a writer, editor, host, producer, and director. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Contact Livia at liviah@addictionnow.com
