The LA Times is carrying an expose on the scams run by a number of celebrity oriented rehab centers. The expose cites a number of horror stories involving the greed of these shady operations. Not a pretty picture, but too long to quote in full here. Here are a few snippets:
Hollywood rehab can produce unhappy endings, even when the patient isn't named Lindsay or Britney.
That's what Kelly Logan learned when he sought treatment for a methamphetamine addiction at Promises Malibu, detox destination to the stars.
Logan's brother, Garfield, says he paid $42,000 up front to admit the former professional surfer for a month at Promises' canyon-top Mediterranean-style home. Five days later, he says, Promises kicked Logan out for belligerent behavior but kept all the money.
"They're scam artists," said Garfield Logan, a plaintiff in one of four consumer-rights, breach-of-contract and unfair-business-practice lawsuits filed against Promises Malibu and its Westside branch in the last year. Promises has denied the allegations.
The suits and state licensing violations reveal a little-seen side to the high-end rehabilitation centers that have become a Malibu cottage industry and -- thanks to such patrons as Promises alums Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears -- a tabloid feeding ground.
The legal problems also reflect how the Malibu properties -- the area has one of the densest concentrations of rehab retreats in the nation, experts say -- can differ from industry norms, as represented by the Betty Ford Center, Hazelden, Phoenix House and other leaders in addiction treatment.
All of the Malibu centers are for-profit enterprises in a field dominated by not-for-profits. With luxury as a principal appeal, many charge far more than the going rate for residential care. Court records indicate that Promises' fee is more than double the $23,000 cost for a month at Betty Ford.
[...]
Promises, Passages and other Malibu rehab firms have identified on their websites a number of psychiatrists and other physicians as staff members, even though the centers are not licensed to provide medical care.
Instead, they are limited to offering services such as detox monitoring that does not require medical treatment; group and individual counseling; and addiction education, state officials say. Over the last few years, Promises and several other centers that do business in Malibu have been cited by state regulators for providing medical services outside the scope of their licenses.
[...]
Many of the Malibu firms typically demand a month's payment in advance and refuse to refund any portion if the patient leaves treatment early or is expelled. No-refund policies at more traditional centers often apply to just part of the fee -- $5,000 in the case of Betty Ford, for example.
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