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People With Addiction Allegedly Offered False Hope By Treatment Center Middlemen

Patrick Graney (center) with his parents. (Courtesy Graney family via STAT)
Patrick Graney (center) with his parents. (Courtesy Graney family via STAT)

Patrick Graney left the Boston area last summer hoping to kick a heroin habit that he had struggled with for years. Another person recovering from addiction had offered him a golden opportunity: an all-expenses-paid trip to a rehab facility in South Florida.

But two months after arriving in Florida, Graney was found dead of an overdose in an seaside hotel. According to an investigation by STAT, Graney became a victim of “addict brokers” in the booming addiction recovery business, who get paid to recruit people into questionable treatment centers.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young speaks with one of the investigation’s co-authors, STAT’s David Armstrong (@DavidArmstrongX), about the role of middlemen in the addiction recovery business.

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