Department of Justice Targets Fraud and Corruption within Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment Industry

Late last week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against 10 defendants for alleged kickback schemes at substance abuse disorder treatment facilities in Orange County. These charges are part of “The Sober Home Initiative”—a coordinated effort among federal and state law enforcement to investigate and prosecute fraud and corruption within licensed rehab and sober living facilities. In connection with the DOJ’s announcement, a lead prosecutor ominously told the Orange County Register, “This is the beginning, not the end.” (Read More)

Federal Authorities Have Their Eyes on Treatment Facilities, Sober Living Home Operators and Marketers, Especially in Orange County

Federal prosecutors are aggressively targeting the substance use disorder treatment space—an industry that some believe has been permeated with fraud and abuse. This is particularly the case in Orange County, California, referred to by some as part of the “Rehab Riviera” on account of the dense concentration of treatment facilities and sober living homes in Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano.

Just last week, on November 15, a marketer pleaded guilty in Orange County federal court to accepting nearly $2 million in kickback payments in return for referring patients to treatment facilities. And, by all indications, further indictments and charges are coming. (Read More)  

5 Corporate Takeaways from the Facebook Whistleblower Hearing

Stakeholders at businesses worldwide listened attentively last week as a former Facebook product manager testified before a Senate subcommittee about, among other things, the company’s purported knowledge of Instagram’s impact on young users of the app. Frances Haugen, who worked on issues regarding civic integrity while at Facebook, also released thousands of pages of research and internal documentation suggesting Facebook knew about an array of problems associated with Instagram, including its allegedly toxic effect on teens. (Read More)