This book is an eye opening look into the lives of addiction. Losing my best friend to a heroin overdose has changed my life and my view of people struggling with addiction. I think books that allow for people to look in from the outside are helpful ways to build awareness and break down stereotypes that exist around pertinent issues in our society. Books such as this one as so important.

A fascinating read about how the opioid epidemic arose. Through meticulous research, McGreal is about to identify the various factors and individuals responsible for this epidemic. McGreal explores the epidemic from all angles, and presents perfect representation of each subject and how it contributed to the epidemic. Even those readers already well versed in this subject will gain a greater knowledge of the opioid epidemic. Greed, corruption, hubris, ineptitude, denial, and deceit all contribute to the crisis we are facing today. Much of this crisis could have been avoided, or at a minimum, reduced, but now much of the damage has been done, and reversing these trends will not be an easy task. This is a must read for anyone with at least a passing interest in the opioid crisis in America wanting to gain a greater understanding of its inception.

Interesting and illuminating do not even come close to describing this book! This is the devastating narrative of how the opiate crisis came to pass in America. Written in a unique, comprehensive and educational manner, I found myself wishing that this book was a reading requirement for all high school students to help them avoid the pitfalls of the current addiction culture. I then found myself wishing it was a requirement for ALL Americans to read. Several years ago an individual remarked to me that soon not a person on the US would be left untouched by the opiate crisis. She insisted that soon everyone would have a friend or family member suffering from addiction. I remember thinking that this woman was quite mistaken. Three years on, I believe her prediction has come to pass.

In American Overdose, Chris McGreal sets the framework for what would lead to arguably the biggest addiction crisis in America, founded on misguided policies, trust, corruption, booming profits and, of course, big pharma. Have other authors tackled this same topic? Sure; but not with the finesse and meticulousness of Chris McGreal. This book not only provides the “hows” and “whys” behind the crisis, it also provides up-close and personal glimpses into the lives of real people affected by pill mills, dishonorable doctors and a healthcare system off its tracks. Gripping, enthralling and informative. I rate this book a solid five stars.

McGreal chases the string of events via which Purdue pharma got doctors to start thinking of pain as a "fifth vital sign" and, with relaxed advertising rules, started convincing people that pain was an unendurable blight, even after surgery or as part of aging. Once the market was primed, FDA labeling lobbied for by the company, and sales people armed with big data targeting specific communities and doctors flooded the medical community with Oxycontin, Oxycodone and promises that time release would prevent abuse and addiction. As this spiraled into rural communities, like Kermit and Williamson in Appalachia, social fabric, already strained by deindustrialization and the 2008 financial crash, shredded as people flocked to pill mills run by disgraced doctors with cash in hand gained from theft, prostitution and other crimes. As overdoses mounted, people organized in vain to demand political response. Some curtailing came in 2010, swinging many people from prescription abuse to the more affordable heroin supplied by savvy cartels. Ultimately, and very depressingly, the complex means of addressing this epidemic are exactly what the current administration is least likely to do.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. I’ve read several books on the opiate crisis, but this is the first one that opened with the Republican gay prostitution scandal. What’s unique about this book is it spends a significant amount of time exploring the bad actors that developed the opiate business, instead of solely focusing on the plight of poor white people in small towns. Of course these people are touched upon, but this is a very different sort of sociology. Interesting.