Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton has filed his tenth federal fraud lawsuit against Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon. Filed in Nevada, the lawsuit alleges that the Scientology rehab center in that state, Rainbow Canyon Retreat, promised effective drug counseling delivered by licensed medical personnel, and instead delivered Scientology training from former addicts.
It’s a set of allegations that we’re very used to hearing, not only in Hamilton’s lawsuits but in many others that have been targeting Narconon in recent years.
This time, plaintiffs Charis Yates and Dean Pugh and their daughter Beret Pugh, all of Washington State, are suing Narconon Fresh Start in Nevada and its umbrella organizations Narconon International and the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE).
On August 30, 2012, Charis Yates and Dean Pugh were looking for a drug rehab facility for their daughter Beret. They were told the usual story by representatives of “Fresh Start” — what some Narconon facilities are calling themselves now. They were told about Fresh Start’s 76-percent success rate, that their daughter would receive “extensive substance abuse treatment,” and that a sauna program would flush drug toxins from her body, reducing or eliminating her drug cravings.
And, like so many others, the couple was told that their daughter would be under the supervision of medical professionals.
They paid $33,000 for Beret’s treatment.
