Unmasking 'The Florida Shuffle': A Call to Fix a Broken System
... And New Jersey's AG Platkin Slams Diversion of Opioid Settlement Money!
When I first heard about Dave Aronberg’s new book, Fighting the Florida Shuffle, I’ll admit I had a chuckle. I pictured elderly retirees getting swindled over shuffleboard games in Florida’s sunny retirement communities.
But the reality, as I learned from Dave during our recent conversation on The Poisoning, is far darker and more urgent.
The Florida Shuffle isn’t a game — it’s a predatory cycle of corruption in the drug treatment industry that preys on the vulnerable, fueled by well-meaning federal laws that have gone terribly astray.
As someone who’s been sounding alarms about the opioid epidemic and its devastating ripple effects, this issue hit me hard. It’s a scandal that doesn’t get enough attention, and it’s time we talk about it.
The Florida Shuffle, as Dave explained, is a vicious system where rehab facilities and sober homes profit by keeping people trapped in an endless loop of relapse rather than recovery.
Like the satirical black comedy, The Producers, the real money, it turns out, is in failure — not success.
Unfortunately, the stakes are much higher when success is sobriety, and failure is death.
So how did we get here?
Federal laws like the Affordable Care Act inadvertently created a loophole, Dave tells me. By reimbursing providers on a fee-for-service basis with no cap on rehab visits, he says, these laws incentivize corrupt operators to exploit patients’ insurance for profit.
They lure people to warm-weather destinations like Florida with promises of recovery, free plane tickets, and even cash or drugs to keep them hooked.
The result? Patients are cycled through detox, inpatient care, and corrupt sober homes, only to relapse and start the process again.
As Dave says, too many leave in an ambulance — or a body bag.
What struck me most was Dave’s passion for exposing this crisis. As the former state attorney for Palm Beach County, he led a task force that made 121 arrests in five years, cleaning up much of the local industry.
But as he pointed out, the problem has just spread elsewhere — Orange County, California; Malibu; even West Virginia, where sober homes have come under scrutiny or investigation.
The federal government’s inaction leaves local communities fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.
Dave testified before Congress twice, in 2016 and 2019, laying out solutions like shifting to an outcome-based reimbursement model that rewards sobriety, not relapse.
What can be done? Dave’s book offers a roadmap.
On a local level, states can follow Florida’s lead by strengthening laws on patient brokering, insurance fraud, and false advertising. Enforcing these laws with dedicated task forces is critical — arrests send a message.
We can also focus on things that actually help victims recover and stay alive.
Medication-assisted treatments like Vivitrol, Suboxone, and even methadone, despite its stigma, are proven tools to fight opioid addiction.
Narcan, the “Lazarus drug,” should be as common as AEDs in schools and communities; it’s safe even if misused.
And for families looking to help a loved one beat addiction, Dave’s advice is clear: do your homework. Research rehabs like you’d research a TV purchase.
Avoid places offering free plane tickets or cash incentives — those are red flags. Look for state-certified sober homes.
Dave’s book isn’t just a wake-up call — it’s a blueprint for change. It’s a reminder that we can’t just throw money at addiction or lock people up and call it a day.
We need smarter policies, local action, and a commitment to treating addiction with the humanity it demands.
New Jersey Attorney General Criticizes Use of Opioid Settlement
Last week, we covered Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s legal victory, restricting the sale of psychoactive hemp products, including Delta 8 and Delta 9.
This week, we turn to New Jersey, where on June 30, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin sharply criticized a last-minute budget proposal that would redirect $45 million in opioid settlement funds to four major hospital systems.
Here’s an excerpt:
“My office fought for years against companies who profited off the deaths and addiction of thousands upon thousands of New Jerseyans,” Platkin said. “These settlement funds are not general revenues for the state. They are the result of some of the most significant lawsuits ever filed by attorneys general across this country to force companies to pay back the blood money that they stole in fueling the opioid epidemic. Spending this money in this way is a slap in the face to every family who lost a loved one in this devastating crisis.”
As he notes, these funds — derived from lawsuits against companies that fueled the opioid epidemic — were intended by statute and by a newly released five‑year strategic plan to fund community-based, evidence‑based addiction recovery services, not general revenue or hospital coffers.
Platkin emphasized his office will “carefully scrutinize” the receiving hospitals — should the allocation stand — to ensure compliance with settlement terms and a focus on best practices for harm reduction and treatment.
This topic was just discussed in last week’s episode with Christine Minhee.
Thank you to AG Platkin who called out his members of his own party to defend the opioid settlement funds.
News Roundup …
VERMONT: Vermont to receive $1.8 million from opioid settlement
AXIOS: How Zyn nicotine pouches became America's new addictive obsession
NORTH DAKOTA: ‘Narcan saves lives:’ Mother spreads hope nearly 3 years after daughter’s fatal overdose
WEST VIRGINIA: Despite research, WV counties refuse to fund harm reduction with opioid funds
KFF Health News: Who's policing opioid settlement spending? A crowdsourced database might help
RHODE ISLAND: Rhode Island to Require Narcan in College Dorms
MASSACHUSETTS: State House lawmakers learn how to administer Narcan
MSNBC: Trump is undoing progress on the opioid crisis. Americans will die as a result.
UTAH: Congrats to former guest of The Poisoning, State Rep. Tyler Clancy. HHe was just name to Utah’s Opioid Task Force.
WEST VIRGINIA: Investigation: WV counties spend opioid crisis money on jail instead of recovery
MARYLAND: 15 people hospitalized in Baltimore 'mass casualty' overdose incident
NEWSWEEK: Map Shows States With the Most Fatal Drug Overdoses
NEW YORK POST:‘Speedballing’ drug trend is becoming ‘increasingly lethal,’ warns public health expert
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Why it’s easier to be prescribed an opioid painkiller than the treatment for opioid addiction
NEW YORK TIMES: How the Risks of Drinking Increase in Older Age
EL PAIS: The new trivialization of drugs: How celebrities are normalizing their use
MARYLAND: Narcan handed out in Baltimore after suspected mass overdose hospitalizes dozens
NEW YORK TIMES: How A Single Overdose Unraveled an Empire of Heroin
CALIFORNIA: ‘Narcan Squad’ makes antidote available to all
NEW JERSEY: State comptroller’s office says Irvington wasted opioid settlement money on concerts
CALIFORNIA: Attorney General Bonta Secures $720 Million in Nationwide Settlements from Eight Opioid Drug Makers
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: 9% of young US employees use alcohol, drugs at work, study finds
GEORGIA: It was ‘incredibly easy’ for customs officer to fly cocaine ‘bricks’ to GA, feds say
THE CONVERSATION: Obesity care: why “eat less, move more” advice is failing
FORBES: Alcohol Stocks Tumble As Health And Cannabis Trends Surge
MEDSCAPE: New Obesity Definition Raises the Number Who Have It
NEWS WISE: Brain Alterations From Prenatal Exposure to Tobacco and Alcohol Persist Into Adolescence
Final Thoughts …
As I listened to Dave Aronberg, I couldn’t help but think of West Virginia, where nitazenes — synthetic opioids 40 times stronger than fentanyl — are now killing teenagers who thought they were taking Xanax.
The opioid epidemic, as Dave noted, wasn’t inevitable; it was manmade, fueled by corporate greed, regulatory failure, and political apathy.
The Florida Shuffle is a chilling extension of that failure, turning recovery into a profit-driven trap. But it also offers hope and strategies for improving things.
So, pick up Fighting the Florida Shuffle. Share it with your family, your friends, your political leaders and policy makers. Because if we don’t fix this system, the vultures will keep circling, and vulnerable victims will keep paying the price.
Thank you for all you do.
Together, we can stop the poisoning!
— Erin