‘Parasite’ firms using Google to prey on addicts

They make thousands from ‘helplines’ pushing patients towards private care

firms are raking in thousands of pounds by using Google to push addicts towards costly private clinics.

The ‘parasite’ companies promote free helplines to those desperate for help with drug, alcohol and other addictions – then refer them to private clients which pay commission to the firms.

Google makes hundreds of thousands of pounds a year itself by making sure the advice services appear at the top of web searches.

it has been suggested that the firms, known as brokers or referral agents, can make as much as £20,000 a month in commission based on referring just one person to a clinic. Addicts trying to get their lives back on track effectively end up footing the bill through inflated fees at the clinics.

Dominic mcCann, development director of the Castle Craig addiction hospital in scotland, which has used the brokers on several occasions, now refuses to do so, describing them as ‘parasites targeting sick people at the most desperate time of their lives’.

Tory mP Dr sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Commons health committee, said: ‘ The level of payments for these referral agents via promoted links cannot be justified in my view, especially as those desperate to tackle their addictions are unknowingly picking up the bill.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: ‘it is disheartening that those seeking privately funded help for their addiction are potentially being exploited.’

in the Us, it is illegal for brokers and referral agencies to promote free health advice lines only to create a database of potential patients that can be sold to clinics. Google, which abides by the Us ban, says it will now voluntarily extend this to Britain.

The issue was highlighted after undercover sunday Times reporters filmed meetings with the UK’s leading referral agencies discussing their business arrangements.

The reporters posed as executives from a new treatment centre to be opened in Gloucestershire. They met Daniel Gerrard, who is the head of the UK’s largest referral agency, Addiction Helper, in Elstree, Hertfordshire.

mr Gerrard is the founder of the Amy Winehouse Project rehab centre in florida, where he abides by the law that bans referrals – but in the UK his Google adverts were generating millions of pounds of business. He denies any wrongdoing, but told reporters: ‘it’s a very difficult industry to work in... some might say it’s highly unethical.’

He said his firm spent £350,000 a month on Google to ensure people seeking treatment for addiction came to his free helpline first.

He said he met Google representatives every three months to ensure his adverts remained ‘ number one’ on an internet search. To increase the ‘coverage’, it is understood mr Gerrard also operates or uses 300 other websites that appear when addiction-related search terms are keyed into Google.

He said his helpline provided a valuable service in finding the best treatment for addicts, and staff were instructed to offer helpful advice regardless of whether callers could afford private rehab.

A second addict broker, Oliver Clark of ADT Healthcare, said he would ‘definitely not’ tell patients that his firm earned commissions, because they ‘don’t like the idea of paying broker fees’.

Both said they recommended the best treatments for addicts irrespective of the fees.

Google said: ‘ in the Us, we restricted ads entirely in this category and we have decided to extend this to the UK as we consult with local experts to update our policy and find a better way to connect those that need help with the treatment they need.’

‘Some might say it’s highly unethical’