Sharks in the Desert

By Barbara Nicholson-Brown

To my colleagues, those of you who diligently help people find the path to recovery, it’s truly heartbreaking there are sharks who view rehab and detox as a way to make a quick buck.

Anyone with ethics, integrity or a conscious knows — people with addictions are not pawns — and should never to be placed in treatment to the highest bidder.

Fortunately, through an exclusive investigative report on Channel 3 News, Patient Brokering has been exposed, http://www.azfamily.com/story/34358336/saving-lives-or-selling-souls-dark-side-of-addiction-recovery

In our November 2016 issue, Carey Davidson wrote about An Ethical Compass:  Navigating the Maze of Addiction Treatment (togetheraz.com/pdf/archive/2016Nov.pdf). And now, Davidson and many others have sounded the alarm.

Multiple addiction industry insiders told Channel 3 reporter Brandon Lee, Arizona is flooded with body brokers because it’s unregulated. However, that could soon change.

After watching the report, State Rep. Noel Campbell, R-District 1, is entering HB 2333 into the state health committee for debate. The bill will make it illegal for anyone to receive or pay a cash kickback in the addiction treatment industry.

While there are predators — we have more respectable treatment centers, detox units and professionals in our State THAN NOT.

I am proud and honored Together AZ is supported by many of the leading professionals in the field.
This publication will never accept advertising from any practice or facility who is part of the shady underworld. I encourage you to use this paper as a resource, and I personally guarantee you will be working with the most highly qualified people whose sole purpose is saving a life.