Narconon Arrowhead
Three deaths at the facility in nine months (the last in July 2012) has resulted in local and state investigations, the Oklahoma legislature is this week considering a new bill to tighten regulation of the facility, and earlier this month Narconon Arrowhead’s CEO, Gary Smith, had his drug counselor certification permanently revoked.
And today, Gary Richardson filed five additional lawsuits against the facility, each of which is alleging that Narconon is a fraudulent business that advertises bogus success rates. Each of the suits names Narconon Arrowhead, Narconon International, and Scientology’s “good works” umbrella non-profit, the Association for Better Living and Education.
“If all that I have been hearing for the past few months is true, these suits are only an example of what goes on at this facility and the deceptive methods used by Narconon to get new people into the facility,” Richardson tells us.
The lawsuits…
— Mary Cantu is suing for fraud after paying $13,000 to Narconon for her son to attend in July 2011, but then he left in a panic just two weeks later after feeling his safety was endangered.
— Lisa Gray is suing after putting her son in the facility in May 2011 and then removing him in July. Like Cantu, she says Narconon is a fraudulent program that doesn’t deliver what it promises.
— Gina Nelsen is suing after paying $25,000 for her son’s treatment in October 2012. When she raised questions about the untruths she’d been told about the program, she alleges that her son was kicked out of the facility, “Thereafter, the Defendants transported Plaintiff’s son to the Salvation Army in Tulsa, Oklahoma, more than a hundred miles away, with only the clothes on his back, where he stayed until he was able to take a bus and secure some clothing, that was donated by local churches and friends.”
— Sue Ann Newman and Dena Shobe are suing after Sue Ann was admitted as a patient at Narconon in May 2012 on false promises that she and her sister, Dena Shobe, could get a special low price through a work program. Instead, “Defendants fraudulently, and without Plaintiffs’ knowledge or permission, applied for a Discovery Card and a Visa Card, in the name of Plaintiff, SHOBE. Thereafter, Defendants fraudulently billed to Plaintiff’s Discovery credit car $7,000 and billed $7,500 to Plaintiff’s Visa credit card, again, all without the knowledge and/or permission of the Plaintiffs.”
— Vicki White is suing because she says fraudulent means were used to enroll her son in Narconon and keep him there, despite her attempts to get him out because of concerns that his medical needs weren’t being addressed. Like the others, she is alleging that Narconon’s business practices are simply a form of fraud.
Richardson is also handling the wrongful death lawsuits for families in the deaths of three Narconon patients: Gabriel Graves, 32, who died in October 2011, Hillary Holten, 21, in April 2012, and Stacy Dawn Murphy, 20, in July 2012. County and state investigators are also reportedly looking into the 2009 death of Kaysie Dianne Werninck, 28.
We’ll add to this story as we get more detail. For now, here are the lawsuits…
Mary Cantu vs Narconon…
Lisa Gray vs Narconon…
Gina Nelsen vs Narconon…
Sue Ann Newman and Dena Shobe vs Narconon…
Vicki White vs Narconon…
—————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on March 21, 2013 at 14:10
