[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWQiXv0sn9Y&w=560&h=315]
I am an addiction specialist and I agree with all the problems with rehab that John Oliver touches highlights:
- Lack of evidence-based treatment in rehabs, even ones that cost more than $70,000 per month of treatment
- Excessive, clinically unjustified urine drug testing
- Patient-brokering
- Health insurance abuse and fraud
If you know a family member or a friend struggling with addiction and considering rehab, you must watch this video. It comes across as funny, but every bit of it is true. As Oliver points out, right now, “rehab” means anything its proprietor wants it to mean, and it can be practically impossible for even addiction researchers to find out where to send their loved ones for treatment. It ends up being gamble.
As Oliver concludes, “So much about battling addiction is really hard. Getting clean is hard. Staying clean is hard but getting good evidence-based, trustworthy help should be the easy part and right now it is way too easy to literally wind up pissing money up a wall.”
