COUNTY INVESTIGATING 57 DRUG REHABILITATION CENTERS

The number of unlicensed alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers believed to
be practicing forced aversion therapy grew to 57 as county authorities
investigate at least four deaths at such clinics, officials said.

County health officials on Friday issued a ``warning'' list of the 57
alcohol treatment centers where patients may have been forced to drink
alcohol on the theory that overdosing on it would give them a distaste for
drinking.

So far, criminal charges have been filed against two clinics stemming from
two such deaths. A source close to the investigation told the Los Angeles
Times that six other deaths were being investigated and that some patients
reportedly were forced to drink poisonous rubbing alcohol.

The list was sent to Municipal and Superior Court officials to warn them
against referring people sentenced to obtain alcohol and drug counseling to
those places.

Also, people convicted of crimes in which they are required to attend 90-day
treatment programs or Alcoholics Anonymous meetings were given a copy of the
list on Friday and told to stay away.

``It concerns us greatly that we may have been referring defendants to these
schools if they were unlicensed and using measures that were
inappropriate,'' said Peggy Shuttleworth, deputy municipal court
administrator.

Some of the centers are listed on the latest edition of a Spanish-language
Alcoholics Anonymous directory, said Patrick L. Ogawa, head of the Alcohol
and Drug Program of the Los Angeles Health Services Department.

The county Board of Supervisors has scheduled a special hearing on the
matter at Tuesday's board meeting.

In one of the deaths, members of a storefront alcohol and drug recovery
group, Grupo Liberacion y Fortaleza, allegedly tied up Enrique Bravo on May
25 and force-fed him alcohol.

Four men pleaded innocent to one count each of involuntary manslaughter and
two counts each of false prisonment in the death of Bravo, 32, of
Littlerock.

Facilities must obtain a state license only if they are residential, open 24
hours a day and administer drugs, Sharon Wanglin, county Department of
Health Services spokeswoman. Organizations offering drop-in counseling, such
as Alcoholics Anonymous, do not have to obtain licenses, she said.

Wanglin said she didn't know how many of the 57 centers on the list had been
recommended by the Health Department because officials hadn't compared the
lists. But as of late Friday, a preliminary review showed employees found no
suspect facilities on their lists.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett