Profit Mining The Opioid Epidemic: When Relapse Is More Lucrative Than Recovery
A growing number of unscrupulous industry players are focusing on getting addicts to relapse so that insurance dollars keep rolling in, according to law enforcement officials, treatment experts and addicts in recovery.
The Associated Press:
Many Addicts Seeking Opioid Recovery Find Relapse And Fraud
The Reflections treatment center looked like just the place for Michelle Holley's youngest daughter to kick heroin. Instead, as with dozens of other Florida substance abuse treatment facilities, the owner was more interested in defrauding insurance companies by keeping addicts hooked, her family says. "It looked fine. They were saying all the right things to me. I could not help my child so I trusted them to help my child," Holley said. (Anderson, 8/24)
In other news on the crisis —
NPR:
State Law Pushes Doctors To Taper Most Patients' Opioid Doses
A year ago, Maine was one of the first states to set limits on opioid prescriptions. The goal in capping the dose of prescription painkillers a patient could get was to stem the flow of opioids that are fueling a nationwide epidemic of abuse. Maine's law, considered the toughest in the U.S., is largely viewed as a success. But it has also been controversial — particularly among chronic pain patients who are reluctant to lose the medicine they say helps them function. (Wight, 8/23)
Georgia Health News:
Overdoses From Fake Painkillers Hit Warner Robins Area
All told, at least eight people have overdosed from street drugs that were believed to be counterfeit versions of Percocet, a prescription painkiller. ... The GBI is testing the pill linked to the latest overdoses, agency spokeswoman Nelly Miles said Wednesday afternoon. (Miller, 8/23)
