Dopesick

If a plane were to crash every day, wouldn’t something be done about it? A Boeing 787 can hold about 250 people. The same number of people die daily in the USA from opioids, such as painkillers like Oxycodone, Vicodin, or Fentanyl. Among those under 50, overdose from painkillers or drugs has now become the leading cause of death, surpassing gun violence or traffic accidents. Many of the addicts initially received these medications from their doctors, often after surgery or a sports injury. Once they started using these potent drugs, patients found it difficult to stop. Millions of Americans have thus slipped into dependency through prescription opioids. The pharmaceutical companies that pushed these new and highly potent painkillers onto the market in the 1990s downplayed the risks of addiction. Billions in profits are at stake. Award-winning journalist and nonfiction author Beth Macy traveled across the USA, visiting addicts, affected individuals, and bereaved families, tracing their life paths and fates. On behalf of the many mothers who have lost their children, she poses the question of why. The result is a harrowing report on a dependent, numbed, and dying America.