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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
Required reading.
Easily could have been 50-60 pages shorter. A lot of pages are repetitive. I also would have appreciated a stronger focus on the discrimination regarding opiate prescriptions. While the author shares over and over again how easy it is for white, middle class patients to get these prescriptions, he glosses over segments of the American population that truly needs opiates and can’t get them because of racial bias.
Easily could have been 50-60 pages shorter. A lot of pages are repetitive. I also would have appreciated a stronger focus on the discrimination regarding opiate prescriptions. While the author shares over and over again how easy it is for white, middle class patients to get these prescriptions, he glosses over segments of the American population that truly needs opiates and can’t get them because of racial bias.
Overall, I was really impressed with how thorough this was. I enjoyed how it was laid out too. The only problem I had was that some of the text seemed repetitive. Main points tended to be repeated and it was odd. Incredible information we should all be familiar with.
A little repetitive at times, but a good scope of perspective.
Sam does an excellent job showing the complexity and nuance of the opiod crisis in a way that educates like a textbook but reads like a story.
My main critique is that it gets a bit long/repetitive in the middle. At the same time, while he does some exploration of the affects of race on the crisis, I wish he would have explored this topic more.
My main critique is that it gets a bit long/repetitive in the middle. At the same time, while he does some exploration of the affects of race on the crisis, I wish he would have explored this topic more.
Sobering, well written, and impressive in breadth. This isn't a narrative Min fiction book with a compelling story. Instead, it's just solid reporting connecting a lot of small dots together.
Pretty powerful and maddening information. Very disturbing, particularly for anyone who has dealt with a loved one with cripply or lethal prescription medication addiction.
A detailed depiction of the American opioid crisis. The book wants to make the point that a confluence of factors — medical, legal, economic — created the crisis, and the first 200 or so pages do this really well. Four stars through parts 1 and 2.
Past that point it gets repetitive. The same observations (and even phrases!) pop up, as if you're listening to a forgetful narrator recounting a story.
Past that point it gets repetitive. The same observations (and even phrases!) pop up, as if you're listening to a forgetful narrator recounting a story.
Solid. An enlightening read on the history of the opiate epidemic. Scary to read and recognize neighborhoods that are very close to where I live and work and that, I'm sure, is the entire point.
Knocked off a star for the last chapter about how "kids these days" need trigger warnings because they're special snowflakes. There are some valid points in that chapter, but a lot of it rubbed me the wrong way.
Knocked off a star for the last chapter about how "kids these days" need trigger warnings because they're special snowflakes. There are some valid points in that chapter, but a lot of it rubbed me the wrong way.
I'll give this 3.5 stars rounding up. I learned SO MUCH so I definitely recommend this book, but I docked points for a) the consistent redundancy (I think this book could've been at least 30% shorter) b) the very subtle anti-fat and pro-Republican references towards the end, and c) the lack of footnotes. WHERE WERE THE SOURCES??
I'm giving this book 4.5.... For importance, it's a 5 but I found the structure a little unsettling so I knocked off 1/2 a star. The story of how OxyContin, a pharmaceutical company, a small letter to the editor, pharmacy reps and doctors aided the scourge of heroin addiction throughout mid America is astonishing. The birth of the pill mills and how a whole generation of addicts was born is just really sickening. One Dr called it " the worst man-made epidemic in history, made by organized medicine." I think this is a must read.