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

by Beth Macy

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR.

'A shocking investigation ... [Dopesick] is essential' The Times.
'Shifting effortlessly between the socio-political and the personal, Macy weaves a complex tale that unfolds with all the pace of a thriller' Observer.
'Dopesick is a deep – and deeply needed – look into the troubled soul of America' Tom Hanks.
'Dopesick goes to the heart of one of the most urgent problems of our time' The Tablet.

Beth Macy reveals the disturbing truth behind America's opioid crisis and explains how a nation has become enslaved to prescription drugs.

This powerful and moving story explains how a large corporation, Purdue, encouraged small town doctors to prescribe OxyContin to a country already awash in painkillers. The drug's dangerously addictive nature was hidden, whilst many used it as an escape, to numb the pain of of joblessness and the need to pay the bills. Macy tries to answer a grieving mother's question – why her only son died – and comes away with a harrowing tale of greed and need.

• ISBN10: 1788549376
• ISBN13: 9781788549370
• Publish Date: 9 August 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 1 December 2022
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Apollo
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[ibeforem]

I thought this was a solid book about the opiate crisis, especially in the Appalachia area. In that way, it hit close to home -- I live in the area and recognized many of the places she spoke about, and some of the events (like the TV weathermen who were outed as addicts). It's all a sad situation, and I can't say that this book offers much hope.

You get some of the history of how the crisis began and then pharmaceutical company's part in it, but more than that you get the stories of the people who are affected by it. Addicts, their families, their children, their dealers.

Probably the most important thing I got from this book was how frustrating it can be to find treatment when you are only finding success with MAT (medication assisted treatment). Many people and facilities don't consider you sober when you are taking suboxone or one of the other drugs that are meant to keep you from getting dopesick. Yet for many addicts, it seems to be their only way of staying clean -- and the studies (at least the ones referred to in this book) agree. I wonder how many others could get clean and stay clean if they only had that option.

I've enjoyed Beth Macy's work in the past, and I look forward to seeing what she comes out with next.

[Beth C.]

I remember back in high school, as part of a senior project about drugs and drug use, I had to write a paper. My argument in that paper was that legalization of any drug was a terrible idea, and would ultimately do more harm than good. This was back in 1990, when "just say no" was the all-encompassing message sent out to kids around the country. That paper, and the overly-simplistic attitude and mindset are not things I think about very often these days...but they definitely come to mind upon finishing this book. So many of the attitudes as related in this book - by doctors, law enforcement, citizens - are still the same narrow-minded and overly-simplistic ones I remember from back then. While this epidemic rages - almost no one remains untouched (My best friend's husband, long addicted to Oxy, left her and their daughter for meth - stealing their savings and pawning so many of their belongings. While she was dealing with a diagnosis of MS and helping their daughter recover from spinal surgery, she was also dealing with the betrayal, hurt, and anger - and helping him into multiple rehab centers. He's currently in prison, not having seen his daughter for years, and still addicted.). Beth Macy, expanding on her reporting for the Roanoke Times, explains how and why Oxy became a gateway drug to harder ones like heroin, and delves into just why treatments as they currently stand have such terrible relapse rates. She is unflinching in explaining how bureaucracies and out-of-date policies collide with the NIMBY viewpoints of many and the belief that abstinence-only rehabs are "superior" to make sure that few addicts truly get the treatments they need to be successful.

It's a heartbreaking book, and an infuriating one. It's educational (I'm a parent who prays fervently that my children never ever find themselves in this struggle - but if they do, I'll have a head start on what treatment options have science to back them.), and it's eye-opening. Frankly, everyone should read this book, because this epidemic will not go away until more people truly have an awareness of what it's like on the front lines of this disease.

NOTE: I urge everyone reading this review and/or this book, or even those just interested - please follow the Surgeon General's new guidelines and get trained on the use of nalaxone. Then have a kit with you. We can all do our part. For more information, please go to

https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/opioid-overdose-reversal-naloxone-narcan-evzio