Center City, MN (September 6, 2018)—The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, a leading national nonprofit pushing for consumer protections within its own addiction treatment industry, is among the first in its field to earn a new certification clearing it to advertise on Google and Facebook.
The new, third-party LegitScript certification process is part of the two digital giants' efforts to weed out deceptive marketing on their powerful platforms and ensure that advertisers are legitimate, transparent and law-abiding.
"We appreciate that Google and Facebook are now vetting ads and ad buyers more rigorously, and have supported that process from the beginning," said Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation President and CEO Mark Mishek, who recently testified before Congress to advocate for reforms to protect addiction treatment consumers.
LegitScript certification involves a thorough examination of addiction treatment providers' background, qualifications, privacy practices and compliance with state legal and regulatory licensing requirements. Providers who are not certified will no longer be able to advertise on Google or Facebook.
"Our marketing team spent a great deal of time preparing our successful certification application, and it was worth it," Mishek added. "This process will help keep bad actors from using these ubiquitous platforms to take advantage of vulnerable, desperate individuals and families who are struggling with addiction. Consumers should be able to trust that the professionals offering help through Google or Facebook are legitimate and transparent. Unfortunately, that has not been the case in recent years."
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is advocating nationally for a crackdown on deceptive addiction treatment marketing and business practices; a ban on the buying and selling of patient leads (also known as "patient brokering"); heightened treatment licensure; accreditation and clinician education requirements to address states where regulations are lax; and expanded efforts to improve quality by further integrating addiction treatment with mainstream healthcare. In August, the organization sounded the "buyer-beware" alarm in another way—by filing a federal lawsuit against the owners of two websites that it says infringe on its trademarks and contain deceptive, misleading content harmful to consumers.
"It is time to restore faith and accountability in the addiction treatment field, and to ensure ethical, quality care for all people who seek help for addiction," Mishek said. "Private partners like Google and Facebook can help, and we—along with consumers—are grateful for what they're doing."
Last fall, Google banned addiction treatment marketing until it could determine how to better vet providers. It announced the new LegitScript certification process in April and only recently resumed running advertisements from the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and others who were in the first small batch of certified organizations. Facebook followed Google's lead in August by announcing that it also will begin using LegitScript to vet addiction treatment advertisers.
"Most in our field do great work, but misleading advertisements can lead to bad treatment for consumers," Mishek said. "To ensure ethical, quality care for all who seek help for addiction, steps like those taken by Google and Facebook are necessary."