American Overdose

Books

The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis in American history; it results in 90 deaths a day and has eviscerated communities across the country. It is a consequence of a healthcare system run as a business, one that prescribes devastatingly addictive drugs to patients experiencing everything from toothaches to severe chronic pain. In American Fix, Chris McGreal outlines the three main stories of the opioid epidemic: first, the negligent policies that allowed the greed and corruption of big pharma to profit from the suffering of their patients; second, the widespread addiction that ravages American towns and cities; and finally, the even more devastating arrival of the drug cartels who deliberately and catastrophically exploited the market for addiction that has been created. Through the lives of doctors, addicts, policy-makers, pharmaceutical reps, and family members, McGreal exposes the truth behind what a former FDA member has called 'one of the greatest mistakes of modern medicine.'