In Case You Haven't Heard…

Whenever there's a mass media news story attacking addiction treatment, it's something ADAW readers have probably heard about already. What's fascinating to us is that these articles never ask organizations like NAATP to comment, and do their best to frighten people who need treatment away from it. Why are they so popular? Because they focus on people who are hurting, not getting better. Our expertise is news and journalism, not addiction treatment, but on the news‐journalism front, these lurid articles fail in both balance and integrity. Treatment providers, this is not the time to cringe. It's the time to be proud of what you do. ADAW has written many stories about bad treatment programs, which usually focus on insurance scams. Who is responsible? State regulators, since the federal government doesn't step in. Florida took action. New York has been an unfriendly state for scammers for decades (which didn't stop parents from sending their young people to scammy programs in Florida). How can you find a good program? Don't look on the internet. Google has not lived up to its promise to keep bad players off it.