Library:Dopesick
| Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America | |
|---|---|
| Author | Beth Macy |
| First published | 2018 |
| ISBN | — |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | Health & Medicine Business, Finance & Scams |
| Tactics | Fraud or Scam Statistical & Evidentiary Distortion |
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America is a 2018 book by Beth Macy.
Summary
Journalist Beth Macy of Roanoke, Virginia, tells the story of the opioid epidemic through the people and communities of Appalachia, where it hit early and hard. She follows the marketing of OxyContin by Purdue Pharma, the doctors who prescribed it, and the families who lost children to addiction.
The book was adapted into an acclaimed 2021 television series.
Key points
- Marketing. Purdue promoted OxyContin as having a low risk of addiction, based on thin evidence, and rewarded high prescribers.
- From pills to heroin. As prescriptions were restricted, many people dependent on opioids turned to heroin and then fentanyl.
- Human cost. Macy centers the story on victims, families and the people who tried to raise alarms.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
Dopesick shows the human consequences of a corporate health claim that proved false.
Related entries
- OxyContin carries a low risk of addiction
- Drug-seeking in pain patients is pseudoaddiction that needs more opioids
- Empire of Pain