Dopesick : dealers, doctors, and the drug company that addicted America /

Includes bibliographical references and index.

In this work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicentre 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. At the heart of the story is a large corporation, Purdue - whose owners are celebrated for their sponsorship of art galleries and museums - that targeted areas of the country already awash in painkillers and encouraged small town doctors to prescribe OxyContin, a highly addictive drug. Evidence of its capacity to enslave its users was suppressed. Macy tries to answer a grieving mother's question - why her only son died - and comes away with a harrowing story of greed and need.