Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy  560 pages

"In this masterful work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of America's twenty-plus year struggle with opioid addiction. From distressed small communities in Central Appalachia to wealthy suburbs; from disparate cities to once-idyllic farm towns; it's a heartbreaking trajectory that illustrates how this national crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.

Beginning with a single dealer who lands in a small Virginia town and sets about turning high school football stars into heroin overdose statistics, Macy endeavors to answer a grieving mother's question-why her only son died-and comes away with a harrowing story of greed and need. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy parses how America embraced a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. In some of the same distressed communities featured in her bestselling book Factory Man, the unemployed use painkillers both to numb the pain of joblessness and pay their bills, while privileged teens trade pills in cul-de-sacs, and even high school standouts fall prey to prostitution, jail, and death."

I used the summary from Booklist here because this book covers a lot of material and I didn't think I'd be able to summarize it as well. 

Needless to say, this is a pretty sobering read. However, I found the book to be fascinating and very informative. The book makes an impact by giving you information about the company that produces OxyContin and how it was advertised and introduced to doctors, but the author also gives you unsparing, personal portraits of people affected by the opioid epidemic.  The summary makes the note that "In these politically fragmented times, Beth Macy shows, astonishingly, that the only thing that unites Americans across geographic and class lines is opioid drug abuse. But in a country unable to provide basic healthcare for all, Macy still finds reason to hope-and signs of the spirit and tenacity necessary in those facing addiction to build a better future for themselves and their families."

I don't know if I have as much hope as the author does about the future. I also found myself thinking more about Rudy Guiliani (especially the next time I saw him on the news), since he was involved with Purdue Pharmaceuticals' team of attorneys.  I do have hope that the more people who read this book, the more that people will have understanding and sympathy and find a way to work together towards a better future.  This is a sobering, interesting book that I think many people should read.