Police investigate Zeus clinic over patient abuse allegations

Director of a detox centre in Catalonia arrested over alleged abuse

The Zeus centre advertised itself as a leading addiction clinic, with awards and advertising in the media. However, a police investigation has led to the arrest of its director trinc complaints from former patients describing mistreatment, punishment and pressure. The fees, ranging from 4,800 to 11,000 euros per month, have driven some patients deep into debt.

Outrageous prices and endless debt
David Alonso, a former patient, explains that he had to sell his van to cover the 29,000 euros the centre demanded for his treatment. "I come from a working-class family and paying that amount has done me a lot of damage. To this day I am deeply in debt, and if it had been up to them I would be even more so," he says. The prices, starting at 4,800 euros for a shared room and exceeding 11,000 for the most expensive one, reflect a business model that, according to the complaints, prioritises profit over recovery.

Testimonies of abuse and manipulation
Former patients describe abusive and humiliating practices, psychological manipulation and coercion. Some recount that during the first two weeks they were given intense medication that left them "drooling and out of it" to make them easier to manipulate. A former employee, Sergi De Mingo, says he felt treated like just another salesperson, under pressure to retain patients at all costs. The thread even mentions that a critical video was removed after legal pressure.

The addiction business: perverse incentives
The analysis of the case suggests the centre had no incentive to cure anyone: a recovered patient stops paying. The desperation of families becomes the real goldmine. "The perfect business isn't the patients, it's the families who come desperate and shell out 15,000 euros as if it were pocket change," sums up one of the comments. The police investigation will have to determine whether there were offences of fraud, coercion or assault.

Given this background, the question is whether the Zeus clinic is an isolated case or the tip of the iceberg of a sector that, in the absence of effective regulation, turns suffering into a luxury product. The investigation will determine responsibilities; for now, the director is under arrest and the centre is under suspicion.