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Dopesick

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Dopesick

By: Beth Macy
Narrated by: Beth Macy
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Summary

A Times book of the year.

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.

©2018 Beth Macy (P)2019 Head of Zeus Mental Health Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences Health
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Critic reviews

"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)
All stars
Most relevant
Beth has investigated the opiate crisis and critically analysed how opioids medicine took over normal lives. Overall, Beth talks about history, marketing, crime and treatment package into this book.

Opiate Crisis

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This is a well written and well researched account of the causes and effects of the OxyContin and heroin addiction problems in the US. It is a first person account and I thought that the author read it well. The victims and their families are described with sympathy and compassion. I haven’t seen the Disney drama of the same name, but I think that this focuses on certain chapters of the book. I enjoyed this, particularly the parts dealing with the drug company’s ethics and the complexities of health care in America (I work for NHS in UK). I bought this when it was the daily deal. I am not sure if I would have paid full price.

Gripping journalistic account of America’s opioid crisis

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I was hoping for a counterpoint to Patrick Redden Keefe’s Empire of Pain which tells the story of the opioid crisis from the actions of the Purdue/Sackler axis. But I was disappointed.

The story becomes bogged down in minutiae about the geography of affected areas, tedious personal details about the protagonists (height, hair colour, beard length and sports records).

And the narration is muddled and detracts from the meaning of the text. Fluffs and errors and repetitions have been left in.

Returned the book.

Victims’ story spoiled by poor narration and muddled plot

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One of the more harrowing, frustrating and yet necessary books I've ever read. An illustration of the errors of politicalising of drug use and drug treatment, where an uneducated public continue down the pathway of calling for simple abstinence and religious based 12-step programmes in face of scientific evidence of a different solution.

Harrow but necessary

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I didn't enjoy this book. It's a collection of events and stories, a bit like a too long article in a newspaper. I struggled to follow the story and finish the book

Too many facts, difficult to follow

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