Dopesick (Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America)

An Amazon Best Book of August 2018: I thought I understood the origins and impact of America’s opioid crisis. Then I read Dopesick. Beth Macy’s book revealed the greed that drove OxyContin to be America’s drug of choice, and it opened my eyes to the shame of addiction that kept this epidemic hidden until far too late. Opioid addiction has touched nearly all of us in the 20 years since OxyContin came to market, and it’s something that didn’t have to happen. Money--absurdly huge sums of it--encouraged doctors, politicians, and the pharmaceutical industry to accept claims about the safety of this painkiller even when it was in conflict with what they saw in their practices and communities. There were so many warning signs. And there were so many people—particularly in small middle American towns--who cried foul, but no one in power cared to act. Beth Macy is a brilliant investigative journalist and a compassionate human being, and she tells this story like no one else has so far. Dopesick offers just the right blend of personal stories and cold hard facts; it’s a powerful book that incites conversation. There’s so much I want to share from Dopesick, but I guess what I most want to say is this: read it. And then pass it on. --Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review