Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Rehab centers are supposed to be places where those struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol can get help. A new report from CNN and the Center for Investigative Reporting, however, finds several unsettling instances of fraud at rehab centers.
These centers assign diagnoses for patients that don't actually have any addiction issues, invent 'ghost patients' that don't actually exist yet bring funding to the clinic to treat these 'patients', and lure healthy people to the center while trying to convince the patients that they need treatment even if they do not.
Many of these centers are located in Southern California, and received over $94 million in state funding the last two years. Will Evans of The Center for Investigative Reporting is reporting on the story, and joins the show with more.