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

In her masterful work, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America (Back Bay), Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of America’s 20-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. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy parses how America embraced a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. Through unsparing, yet deeply human portraits of the families and first responders struggling to ameliorate this epidemic, each facet of the crisis comes into focus. In these politically fragmented times, Macy shows, astonishingly, that the only thing that unites Americans across geographic and class lines is opioid drug abuse. But in a country unable to provide basic healthcare for all, Macy still finds reason to hope – and signs of the spirit and tenacity necessary in those facing addiction to build a better future for themselves and their families.