Treatment centers touting high success rates can sound appealing to vulnerable people suffering from addiction or to their families—even when there’s no solid evidence to support their methods.
Jason was hallucinating. He was withdrawing from drugs at an addiction treatment center near Indianapolis, and he had hardly slept for several days.
Emerald and dozens of other companies across the U.S. say NAD therapy can address conditions from anxiety to depression to chronic fatigue and even Alzheimer’s. Earlier this year, Emerald leadership discussed NAD therapy with Side Effects but cut the interview short amid questions about the treatment’s efficacy. Company officials declined another interview and did not respond to follow-up questions via email. For that reason, Side Effects was unable to ask them about Jason’s case.
While patients spend time and money on ineffective treatments, they miss out on proven therapies that can reduce their risk of relapsing, including behavioral counseling and medications approved by the FDA for treating addiction, says Andraka-Christou. “We do actually now have evidence-based treatments available,” she says. “But you still do have these quack treatments popping up.”Numerous companies make bold claims about NAD therapy.
Jason insisted his mother shouldn’t pay thousands of dollars for his treatment. She had already spent too much money on him. They decided not to come back. But there has been little research on the effects of the formulas used by Emerald and similar clinics. NAD, which is an important coenzyme in several cellular processes, including energy metabolism, is being researched at Harvard for its role in aging. Supplements claiming to boost NAD levels have recently gained popularity for purported anti-aging benefits. But NAD’s benefits in addiction treatment are unproven, and providers cite unpublished research to make sweeping claims.
Rapidly withdrawing patients from benzodiazepines can cause dangerous side effects, such as seizures — it can even be fatal, says Zarse. “There are two types of withdrawal symptoms that can kill you: alcohol and benzodiazepines,” she says. “It can cause enough misfiring in the brain that it can lead to brain death.”
One of the doctors who treated Jason noted in his medical records: “Unclear exactly what this NAD substance/medication is.” More broadly, making unsupported claims about a medical treatment or supplement violates federal rules. Both the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission regulate how companies advertise treatments and supplements.
In a 2017 TV news story about Emerald, a man says that Emerald helped him get his alcohol and pill addiction under control. Reached by phone, he told Side Effects that he reluctantly said those things to get the TV interview over with. “[NAD therapy] was a complete waste of my time and my family’s money,” he said. “It did absolutely nothing for me.”
Emerald still promoted patients’ stories like these on social media until December 2018. The company began removing content from its website, YouTube and Facebook shortly after Side Effects began reporting this story.Asked about cases of relapse among Emerald patients, Humiston replied: “What I’ve seen is that [the treatment is] very effective.
Asked about the investigation, Humiston said there was “inaccurate information put in there” but that he accepted a public reprimand from the medical board “just to end it.” He did not respond to emailed follow-up questions about the disciplinary case.
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