Columnist Teri Sforza writes that a lawsuit alleged a young man’s life-and-death addiction struggle landed in the hands of people ill-equipped to handle it.
Dear Gov. Newsom: Here’s a real California story for you. Ronald Reagan, Frank Sinatra, Phyllis Diller and Bob Hope are immortalized on Palm Springs’ Walk of the Stars — and so is reality TV celebrity Ken Seeley.Seeley gained the national spotlight as a real-life superhero on A&E’s gut-wrenching “Intervention,” sweeping in as users spiral into addiction’s dark depths and often, against all odds, helping yank them out.
They signed on and Rea drove Dean to Palm Springs herself. “I was looking for professionalism,” she said. “We all wanted Dean to get better.”Susan Rea and her son Dean. Hundreds of pages of court documents vividly suggest weakness in the system itself. You can change that, Gov. Newsom. As you lobby us to approve a $6 billion initiative to expand mental health treatment, we implore you: Make sure California expands what works, rather than what doesn’t. Pay attention to the painful lessons embedded in Dean Rea’s story.There are three main steps in the rehab world — detox, residential treatment, then outpatient treatment/sober living.
Where a more medical rehab model might have gotten him to a doctor or a higher level of care, Dean got a visit with his mother. He felt closest to her because she was always there for him. The worker broke down the door. Dean was sprawled on the bed. Next to him, tin foil stained with brown marks. Susan called 911 while the worker tried to revive Dean. “Don’t die,” Susan said, squeezing his hand. “Please don’t die. Come back.”
The marketing guy told Dean to pack his bags. Dean’s phone buzzed as he obliged; it was his girlfriend, Voelkel, calling from the beach. He had overdosed and was leaving KSC, he told her. Dean wound up behind the gas station just around the corner from KSC. He called Jon Wan, a friend on the beach outing. Dean was speaking nonsense, Wan said in court papers, and admitted to smoking fentanyl by the dumpster. Wan assured Dean they’d help as soon as they returned to Palm Springs.Forensic scientist Terry Baisz shows pills masquerading as real pharmaceuticals, but are actually fentanyl at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department crime lab.
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