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Addiction treatment center hearing could turn emotional, confrontational

The gloves are coming off as critics of California’s lax regulation of addiction treatment centers gear up for what may be a prickly oversight hearing on Monday, Dec. 13.

This security video screen grab shows people trying to revive a man in front of a licensed detox facility in South Laguna in 2019.

One man writes of a “nightmare in Huntington Beach” — used needles in the hedges, screaming residents throwing things from an upper balcony, a dead body bagged by emergency workers and removed in the middle of the day. “Just a few behaviors to make you want to leave your home of 30-plus years,” he wrote.

Others have long lists of questions for Michelle Baass, director of the California Department of Health Care Services, the agency charged with overseeing the industry.

How are death reports handled and in what time frame? Does the director ever personally read death reports? Do you know that former DHCS staffers have gone on to take jobs as consultants to treatment programs overseen by their erstwhile colleagues?

A law passed in 2018 required state-certified programs to disclose financial ties to sober living homes. Where is that information? When state inspectors go to investigate adverse events, are the facilities notified beforehand? Why are records obtained through the Public Records Act so heavily redacted?

“Hair salons and barber shops have better and more frequent inspections than state licensed addiction treatment houses,” said Laurie Girand of Advocates for Responsible Treatment in San Juan Capistrano, who for years has been pushing the state to improve regulation enforcement. “How does the leadership at the Department of Health Care Services sleep at night, knowing it is allowing people to die in houses operated by treatment centers that carry state certification?”

California State Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris at a 2019 hearing about addiction treatment centers. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

There were 61 death complaints and about 540 “jurisdictional complaint inquiries” to DHCS  in the last fiscal year, said Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-NorrisPetrie-Norris, chair of the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee that will hold the hearing at 11 a.m. Monday.

Deaths aren’t uncommon in the rehab industry, where lax regulation runs head-on with the high-stakes illness of addiction.

The agenda for the upcoming meeting has been finalized. In addition to Baass, panelists will include Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, who helped shape Costa Mesa’s successful sober living laws when she was the city’s mayor; Todd Franssen, Orange County District Attorney Investigator, who has been a main force behind the agency’s crackdown on some rehab centers; Dr. Mario San Bartolome Jr. of the California Society of Addiction Medicine, who can address the scientific approach to addiction treatment; and Jennifer Lohse, vice president and general counsel of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, who can discuss best practices.

“Time and time again we see horrific stories in the news about rogue operators in substance abuse industry and mourn the news of another life lost. Enough is enough – it is time we step in and ensure proper licensing and enforcement so that Californians who are desperately trying to overcome drug and alcohol addiction can focus on their recovery, not their safety,” said Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, in a prepared statement.

Petrie-Norris criticized the department for taking weeks or months to respond to people’s complaints. The DHCS explained itself in an emailed statement to SCNG.

Defense

On his left forearm, Dillon DeRita had a tattoo of the Serenity Prayer, with its plea for redemptive power. He died at an addiction treatment center in 2016.(Photo courtesy of Rich DeRita)

“Complaints are responded to within 10 days; average time to close complaints has improved dramatically over the last three years, dropping by more than 60%,” wrote spokeswoman Carol Sloan. “Some complaints take longer to close as they require on-site visits and multiple interviews. About 1 in 4 complaints are non-jurisdictional, meaning that they involve areas where DHCS has no authority, such as nuisance complaints related to recovery residences. Recovery residences are landlord/tenant relationships, and as long as no licensable treatment services are being provided, DHCS does not have the authority to investigate,” she said.

Lawmakers also have advocated to move inspectors out of Sacramento and into the communities they’re responsible for overseeing so problems can be handled more swiftly. But Petrie-Norris said the DHCS has blocked those attempts.

“DHCS analysts travel frequently throughout the state, and go into the communities to perform on-site investigations whenever needed to ensure client safety,” Sloan wrote. “On-site inspections are always performed when DHCS receives high-priority complaints or reports that demonstrate concerns about client safety.”

And on one front that many say could go far to reforming the industry in California — a so-far unsuccessful attempt by legislators to require licensing of outpatient treatment programs, where the majority of treatment actually happens — DHCS was agnostic.

“There have been many legislative discussions on the concept of mandating certification to ensure that all outpatient treatment facilities adhere to DHCS’ standards for quality and safety. It is DHCS policy not to comment on pending legislation and related discussions,” Sloan said.

But Baass and others might be asked about those issues on Monday.

Wendy McEntyre, an advocate for industry reform, submitted a statement to lawmakers on behalf of Lynn Maniace, whose son Matt died at a now-closed detox center in Lake Arrowhead.

Matthew Maniace (Courtesy Maniace family)

“My 20-year-old son, falsely assured of around-the-clock medical supervision, traveled cross-country seeking a medical detox with his addiction from Above it All Treatment Center  in Lake Arrowhead. When he arrived, Matthew’s drug test was clean. Three days later, on February 26, 2017, he was dead. I will never see him again. I later found out 6 people died at AIA before Matthew.”

DHCS’s investigation found “falsification of documentation” and “inaccurate resident records,” Maniace said. There was a forged a prescription and Matt received a potentially dangerous mix of medication, and Maniace faced an uphill battle to have DHCS re-open the investigation. She was disappointed again, she said, when “DHCS investigated and did nothing which resulted in more negligent deaths.”

The public is encouraged to share experiences, concerns and questions via Petrie-Norris’ web site, https://a74.asmdc.org/contact-cottie, or the committee’s “position letter portal” at https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/. The hearing will stream live at https://www.assembly.ca.gov/todaysevents. The public can comment at the hearing by calling (877) 692-8957, and entering the access code13154202.


Source: Orange County Register

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