CAVEAT EMPTOR –

Jan. 19, 2024 – Drug addiction, a disease that takes hundreds of lives in Palm Beach County every year, is often misunderstood and mistreated. That’s slowly changing, but experts say much is yet to be done. Private treatment facilities can make false promises and reap insurance payments for substandard treatment of people in crisis, a system that prospers under lacking oversight by the Florida Department of Children and Families, a recent Palm Beach Post investigation found.

And other resources that should be a source of help — hospitals, first responders and even friends or loved ones — are often behind the curve on the kind of care and empathy needed to help someone struggling with addiction, a group of four experts said on Wednesday evening.  

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