February 17, 2021
Upcoming “Body Brokers” Film Needs “Fiction” Disclaimer, Say Substance Use Experts and Advocates for People in Recovery
Organizations Raise Concern After “Highly Inaccurate Representation” of Substance Use Disorder Treatment in Movie Trailer; Call for Focus on Saving Lives as California Faces Overdose Epidemic
Los Angeles, CA – Directors of California’s county behavioral health departments and advocates for people on their substance use recovery journey are deeply concerned that the upcoming “Body Brokers” film could reinforce stigma around substance use treatment and deter people living with addiction from seeking help. Today, they released a letter they sent to Roxwell Films, Voltage Pictures, and Vertical Entertainment requesting the companies add disclaimers to the trailer and to the film informing viewers that Body Brokers is a fictional account and does not represent the many substance abuse treatment providers that save lives.
The movie trailer, they said, “leaves us gravely concerned that your inaccurate portrayal of substance use treatment as driven by greed rather than care will deter people in need of live-saving services from reaching out for help. Doing so is not only irresponsible, they said, but could very well cost lives. This message could not come at a worse time for California, as we are in the midst of our own drug overdose epidemic.” While the trailer describes the film as “based on real events,” the short segment the public has seen presents a highly inaccurate representation of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.
They went on to encourage the filmmakers to use the publicity around the film to raise awareness of the facts about SUD treatment and the quality care available through California’s county behavioral health programs.
The facts:
Behavioral Health Pandemic Left Behind After COVID: The stress, economic devastation, and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a very serious toll on American’s mental health and substance use. In a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) early in the pandemic, 18% of America adults said they had turned to substance use to deal with Covid-19 related stress. Like many of the worst effects of the pandemic, the burden has been borne most heavily by people of color. This behavioral health pandemic will last long past when the virus is controlled and calls for greater investment in, and raising awareness of, effective treatment.
Alarming Number of Fentanyl Overdoses and Death: Overdose deaths in the United States have surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the CDC. In California, fentanyl related overdose deaths increased by over 143% in 2020 over the year prior. Counterfeit opioids laced with fentanyl are one reason behind the alarming rise in overdoses, which has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In San Francisco, more people died from drug overdoses than from COVID-19 in 2020. The key to preventing deaths and other consequences of opiate addiction is to “expand awareness about and access to and availability of treatment for substance use disorders,” says the CDC.
Health Plan Members Have Difficulty Accessing Covered Treatment: Contrary to what is portrayed in the movie trailer, the greatest concern of behavioral health experts is that Californians have too difficult a time accessing substance use disorder treatment through their commercial health insurance providers. According to the California Health Care Foundation, the vast majority of commercial health plan members who have substance use disorder did not receive treatment consistent with national standards.
California Maintains Strong Oversight and Quality Standards for Publicly-funded SUD Treatment: SUD treatment providers that receive Medicaid or other public funds in California must first undergo a rigorous, state-administered certification process. They also observe clinical quality standards that have been steadily strengthened in recent years as California has begun to require that providers use nationally recognized care guidelines developed by the American Society of Addiction Medicine in most treatment settings. 96 percent of Medicaid patients in California now receive SUD treatment through a comprehensive, evidence-based managed care program (known as the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System) that is evaluated annually by the University of California at Los Angeles.
“Millions of Californians would be better served by your industry’s focus on the ways SUD treatment can help individuals achieve recovery,” they concluded.