Addiction Experts Call for More Oversight and Tougher Standards for Treatment Centers

Addiction treatment centers need tougher standards, better screening and more oversight in the wake of recent patient deaths, experts tell USA Today.

In California, state regulators have investigated more than 150 deaths at treatment centers since 2014, including 44 during the fiscal year ending June 30.

Some for-profit centers are providing aggressive marketing and substandard care, industry leaders told the newspaper. “This is a huge issue for the industry,” said Marvin Ventrell, Executive Director of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, which represents about 850 facilities. “It is a critical time where we can get this right or we can get this wrong.”

Some centers are more focused on selling services to prospective patients than on assessing patients’ individual medical needs, Ventrell said. “The key is not to be assessed by a marketer on a website but by a clinical provider at a reputable center,” he said.