Dopesick, Beth Macy

 

Dopesick:  Dealers, doctors, and the drug company that addicted America by Beth Macy  I sort of felt I needed to pick this book up after I heard about the Hulu special and having read Empire of Pain.

Started: 3/1/2022
Completed: 3/4//2022
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: my wife

Review:

This book is told from the perspective of those who are damaged by oxy, rather than those who try to hold the Sacklers accountable.  Because of that angle, there is no victory.  It is hard to take joy in someone fighting through to recovery despite the huge effort involved and how important it is to those around the addict.  There is a sort of solemn hope in those who have thrown off the addiction.  Most of the book is wrapped in sadness and gradual decay--whether it is to death from the addict or prison for the dealer.  It was shocking to me to see that the medical community was unwilling to help fix the problem which they largely created through over prescription and how slow they were to adopt findings that oxy was dangerous.