An Afternoon with Dave Aronberg

***Please note: This event will take place at the Books & Books in Coral Gables at 265 Aragon Ave. Tickets are FREE and books will be available for purchase at the event. Want your copy early or can't make it in-person?

"An unflinching view into the dark side of an industry meant to be the hope of those caught in the grip of addiction..." - Dr. Jay Kuchera, MD, FASAM

Motivated by greed, Purdue Pharma's explosive marketing of its powerful painkiller, Oxyc**tin, helped create the opioid epidemic that kills around 207 people every day in the United States. Many more battle substance use disorders that impact health, happiness, family relations, and jobs. Federal policymakers have responded with laws that require insurance policies to cover drug treatment and classify addiction as a preexisting condition. But what happens when the rehab industry itself is corrupted, leading to the untimely death of individuals in their care?

Fighting the Florida Shuffle is a gripping account of how unscrupulous players have infiltrated the drug treatment industry, and how well-intended, yet na ve policymakers continue to incentivize relapse over recovery. State Attorney Dave Aronberg and MSNBC Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Dave Campbell tell the stories of victims enticed with free plane tickets and other illicit benefits to enter substandard outpatient rehab and live in flophouses masquerading as "sober homes," leaving too often in ambulances and body bags. The authors offer an insiders' perspective from the world of law enforcement and medicine on how corporate malfeasance fueled the rise in opioid overdoses, how families can identify and avoid rehab scams, and how one community fought back to clean up the industry and put the worst offenders behind bars.Drug treatment has become a thriving enterprise, but the profit motive has lured predators to exploit the vulnerable who seek help.

As rogue rehab owners line their pockets through insurance fraud, patient brokering and illegal kickbacks, their victims leave behind grieving families and loved ones, who wonder how the insurance coverage thought to be a lifeline led to increased overdose and premature death.

Shot over the course of three years, "Shuffle" follows three individuals whose lives depend not on getting into treatment, but on getting out alive, and in the process, shines a light on the insurance-fueled cycle of addiction treatment fraud spreading across the country. With the filmmaker serving as narrator, using his own experience as a roadmap, these personal stories provide the framework for a more public investigation with the help of an FBI informant, an insurance analyst and the former Executive Director of a Philadelphia-based treatment facility. "Shuffle" unravels a web of public policy and private interest preying on a desperate population for the sake of profit.

Dave Aronberg served as State Attorney for Palm Beach County from 2012 to 2024, overseeing 115 prosecutors and 180 staff. A former Florida Senator, Assistant Attorney General, and White House Fellow, he led efforts to combat opioid abuse, creating a Sober Homes Task Force that made over 120 arrests and inspired new laws and national reforms. Aronberg’s efforts also convinced Google to restrict advertisements and improve screening for addiction treatment. The crackdown in rogue sober homes and corrupted drug treatment centers contributed to a dramatic decrease in opioid-caused deaths in Palm Beach County. He previously worked to investigate Holocaust-era insurance claims and helped fight international money laundering at the U.S. Treasury. As Florida’s “Drug Czar,” he cracked down on pill mills, reducing Oxycod*ne deaths. A Harvard-educated attorney, Aronberg also teaches trial skills and regularly appears as a legal analyst.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, United States