I placed my 19 yo son into Stonehawk Narconon in Battle Creek, MI. I am a nurse and quite the researcher, thus surprised and hurt to be so taken by the Stonehawk Ripoff scam... I wish to warn all the easy targets out there to be ware!
My son has been through 4 drug rehab programs, and Stonehawk was a move of desperation for us. After 3 weeks in the program, I "broke" my son out of the place. I had learned of the unsanitary conditions and unsafe treatments going on there. When I spoke to the "nurse" and several other responsible parties, no one could tell me what doses of vitamins they were giving my son. I suspected dangerous levels and thus this lack of information and knowledge caused me to arrive in a surprise fashion to get my son out of the place.
I have filed formal complaints with the Michigan Board of Health and Mental Health Services, and any other available avenue. Additionally, my insurance company (Anthem Blue Cross) accidenatally sent my reimbursement money directly to Stonehawk. After Stonehawk would not return it to me, Anthem repaid me and informed me they would go after Stonehawk for the money.
During all these trials with Stonehawk, I had numerous opportunities to be lied to directly by the current owner, Per Wigstrom. He would give me statements and promises around reimbursing my money; however, these were never kept. The main desire, raised in every conversation, was to have my son sign a gag order.in fact, when I went to get my son out of the place, they had him sign a gag order before brining him to me. I got the paperwork away from the staff and tore up the gag order my son had signed. Thus we can spread the word about the bad experience we had with this place.
Please please, do not send a loved one to this place. My son cited many issues regarding sanitation from the kitchen roof leaking to filthy mattresses. The food was not nutritional. I got my son's classroom book and it is replete with Scientology. I was assured my son would be taken to Christian church services but they always came up with an excuse for him not to attend. There was one ex-addict "teaching" a class of over 50! There were drugs and alcohol in the place. Communication to family was severely restricted and counselors never returned my calls.
A common "game" is for personnel at the facility to emphasize the lying nature of the addict. I do not lie and I can confirm the unethical practices and treatment that I received. I pulled numerous plastic baggies filled with pills (I suspect vitamins) from the clothes my son wore at the facility. He did not take most of these "medications". A competent facility would watch a patient take his medications and medications would be labeled, not stored in unmarked plastic bags.
A legitimate place would not ask for all funds, in cash, before rendering service. A legitimate place would likely be a preferred provider by major insurance companies, Stonehawk does not have this! A legitimate facility would provide adequate teaching and supervisory staff, would return phone calls and allow some type of updates/contacts to family.
Favorable postings about the place tend to be 'scripted' and appear to be posted by Narconon insiders. Do not fall for these! Addiction is a horrible disease that requires desire by the addict to get clean and a legitimate program. Do not be victimized by this place. Sadly most families/loved ones ripped off by Narconon are too beat down to fight back or led to believe the addict is a liar.
Good luck to all of you searching for answers and help for addiction. Never lose hope!
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