60 Minutes highlighted an expensive new addiction treatment called Prometa on Sunday-- the first half primarily consisting of “miracle cure” testimonials, the second exposing the fact that scientific studies don’t actually back the incredible claims being made for it.
A little context would have helped enormously. Although 60 Minutes made much of the idea that this is the first time a medical addiction cure had been sold without getting FDA approval, a “miracle” heroin detox has been sold virtually identically since the late 90’s.
The fact remains that anyone can introduce and sell an addiction treatment regime-- whether it be behavioral, psychological, physical or using unusual combinations of medications approved for other conditions-- without having to prove that it is effective or even safe.
The rapid detox story is particularly instructive on this score. Media ranging from Wired to 20/20 to 48 Hours to Dr. Phil have pushed rapid opioid detox with testimonials that sound remarkably similar to those on the 60 Minutes Prometa piece.
But these rapid detox stories rarely mention the deaths that have been associated with the procedure. The vast majority of those features done before a double-blind clinical trial was published failed to mention the lack of evidence.
Worse, however, is the fact that the vast majority of the coverage done *after* the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association published a strictly controlled trial fail to note its results. That trial found that not only did this detox fail to produce better results than other treatments, its main claims of producing less discomfort during withdrawal did not hold up either. And, it carried far more risk than traditional detox-- for no gain in comfort or effectiveness.
Nonetheless, testimonials of its incredible power to change lives continue to appear in the media to this day-- you could place the stories side by side with those of Prometa patients and not be able to tell which miracle was being touted unless the drugs of abuse and treatment name were provided.
Without providing such background, exposes of such programs run a great risk of serving as advertisements. Many people believe that the medical establishment dismisses “alternative” treatments unfairly-- testimonials of drug-free addicts and their happy families are much more powerful.
60 Minutes did note that a drug court which originally funded Prometa dropped it after discovering that its local promoters had stock in the company and that its results weren’t actually better than those of other treatments.
But without explaining why the powerful personal experiences the media relies on to tell most stories can be deceptive in medical coverage, it’s likely that Prometa’s promoters will actually be glad 60 Minutes did an “expose.” [For my prior coverage of rapid detox and Prometa, see here and here]
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