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Prescription for Pain: How a Once-Promising Doctor Became the "Pill Mill Killer" by Philip Eil
sararah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Interesting perspective on the opioid epidemic surrounding the actions of one physician running a pill mill
booksnynk's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
4.25
I’m fascinated by the opium crisis in the us because for me working in a pharmacy in the Netherlands I just can’t imagine it would get that bad. Here it’s not always perfectly regulated but the complete lack in this case amazes me. You can see it just get bad. And this is just one example of it getting out of hand but I imagine there are more and even more sad examples
dpai12's review
dark
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.5
It’s not easy being a doctor. Doctors have a lot riding on them, and being around sickness must be very taxing, both mentally and physically. I have nothing but respect for the profession.
That said, it also comes with a major responsibility to serve the populace. Noblesse oblige, I guess?
Prescription for pain is an investigative true crime book that delves into the case of John Volkman, a doctor and PhD serving 4 life sentences for prescribing deadly combinations of drugs to hundreds of patients, that resulted in the overdose related deaths of at least 13 people (official number).
What was sad was these patients were in their mid 30s and 50s, popping an average of 20 pills daily. A treacherous cocktail of Oxy, Xan*x, and other heavy pa*nkillers/ sedat*ves/ muscle relaxants.
On paper, Volkman was a brilliant man. He did prove to be careless, causing a string of lawsuits in his early practice as a pediatrician. In spite of this, he was allowed to continue working in the medical community. Somewhere down the line, this blew up.
The book takes a deep dive into the Opioid epidemic, especially in the tristate area of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, that forever altered the course of a generation. The backgrounds of of pain clinics is also explored, introducing us to the research of pain medicine, something that would prove to be a both profitable and deadly period in medical history. The book is heavily detailed, well researched and written. Eil asks the right questions to different people, trying his best to stay unbiased.
The manufacturers made the pills.
The doctors prescribed them.
The patients abus*d them.
This became a norm and medical associations and the DEA were unaware until they got tipped off. It took a series of deaths and patterns to connect them before the government was able to act on it. Not before it affected hundreds, maybe thousands of lives.
Who would you blame?
Only read this if you have the stomach and patience for it.
creativerunnings's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Can doctors be blamed for the opioid crisis?
What if a doctor prescribes narcotics to a patient who then dies a few days later from an overdose? Would you hold the doctor accountable?
What if said doctor established a clinic prescribing opioids with the sole goal of making money? What if these prescriptions were for insubordinate amounts of pills per person, in some cases for 600-800 pills per month?
This is the subject matter Philip Eil addresses in “Prescription for Pain”.
In his masterpiece, the author tells the story of Paul Volkman, the central figure of a cash-only pain clinic in impoverished Southern Ohio.
“It is the story of a man who was trained to be a medical scientist, but who wound up traversing multiple medical specialties, working in dozens of hospitals across the Midwest, and facing multiple malpractice lawsuits, before becoming what one news outlet dubbed “The Pill Mill Killer.”
In 2004, Volkman was the largest single purchaser of oxycodone in the United States. How did he get to that point when acquaintances from college expected to read about a future Nobel Prize in the newspaper? How did Volkman, once known for his high achieving personality, now face four consecutive life terms in prison?
The book does an outstanding job at describing Volkman’s bizarre demise into criminal persecution starting with his early success and the ultimate desperation that led him to run several “pill mills”. The research in the book is incredibly thorough, to the point that the author attempted to file a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the DEA in order to obtain detailed information about all deceased patients.
The way Volkman is described in the text reminds me of the traits observed in a number of personality disorders, notably the narcissistic kind. From the first page to the end, we are repeatedly told that Volkman does not appear to have any insight into his role as a quasi serial killer in the ~39 overdose deaths, nor does he show any remorse for its victims and describes them as “poor hillbillies” instead. In his eyes, the “death waiver” his patients signed took care of the possibility for negative outcomes. His erratic relationship with the truth seems to extend to his inner beliefs, causing him to see himself as a world class physician and heroic savior as well as a victim of outlandish conspiracies put up by the DEA.
The author does an outstanding job at creating a detailed image not only of Volkman's trajectory, but also of the economic background that made the Tristate area between Southern Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia into a “Store Front Narcotic Outlet” with the highest overdose rate in the country. The scandal around Purdue Pharma along with their marketing hype around pseudoaddiction, opiophobia, and pain as the “Fifth Vital Sign” is also weaved into the narrative.
“By early 2010, the prescription drug abuse crisis had gotten so bad that the Scioto County health commissioner [...] declared a formal state of emergency.”
Eil transitions seamlessly between these background sections and Volkman's story. It really speaks for the excellent writing of the book that I never lost interest and couldn't put the book down despite the incredible amount of detail that's introduced. Well done!
I'm immensely grateful that I received an advance reader's copy of this outstanding piece of investigative journalism. A lot of work and soul went into this book through the author's hard work, and it shows. I learned so much. Thank you Phillip Eil, Netgalley, and Steerforth Press for giving me the opportunity to review this book. It'll come out on April 9, 2024.
What if a doctor prescribes narcotics to a patient who then dies a few days later from an overdose? Would you hold the doctor accountable?
What if said doctor established a clinic prescribing opioids with the sole goal of making money? What if these prescriptions were for insubordinate amounts of pills per person, in some cases for 600-800 pills per month?
This is the subject matter Philip Eil addresses in “Prescription for Pain”.
In his masterpiece, the author tells the story of Paul Volkman, the central figure of a cash-only pain clinic in impoverished Southern Ohio.
“It is the story of a man who was trained to be a medical scientist, but who wound up traversing multiple medical specialties, working in dozens of hospitals across the Midwest, and facing multiple malpractice lawsuits, before becoming what one news outlet dubbed “The Pill Mill Killer.”
In 2004, Volkman was the largest single purchaser of oxycodone in the United States. How did he get to that point when acquaintances from college expected to read about a future Nobel Prize in the newspaper? How did Volkman, once known for his high achieving personality, now face four consecutive life terms in prison?
The book does an outstanding job at describing Volkman’s bizarre demise into criminal persecution starting with his early success and the ultimate desperation that led him to run several “pill mills”. The research in the book is incredibly thorough, to the point that the author attempted to file a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the DEA in order to obtain detailed information about all deceased patients.
The way Volkman is described in the text reminds me of the traits observed in a number of personality disorders, notably the narcissistic kind. From the first page to the end, we are repeatedly told that Volkman does not appear to have any insight into his role as a quasi serial killer in the ~39 overdose deaths, nor does he show any remorse for its victims and describes them as “poor hillbillies” instead. In his eyes, the “death waiver” his patients signed took care of the possibility for negative outcomes. His erratic relationship with the truth seems to extend to his inner beliefs, causing him to see himself as a world class physician and heroic savior as well as a victim of outlandish conspiracies put up by the DEA.
The author does an outstanding job at creating a detailed image not only of Volkman's trajectory, but also of the economic background that made the Tristate area between Southern Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia into a “Store Front Narcotic Outlet” with the highest overdose rate in the country. The scandal around Purdue Pharma along with their marketing hype around pseudoaddiction, opiophobia, and pain as the “Fifth Vital Sign” is also weaved into the narrative.
“By early 2010, the prescription drug abuse crisis had gotten so bad that the Scioto County health commissioner [...] declared a formal state of emergency.”
Eil transitions seamlessly between these background sections and Volkman's story. It really speaks for the excellent writing of the book that I never lost interest and couldn't put the book down despite the incredible amount of detail that's introduced. Well done!
I'm immensely grateful that I received an advance reader's copy of this outstanding piece of investigative journalism. A lot of work and soul went into this book through the author's hard work, and it shows. I learned so much. Thank you Phillip Eil, Netgalley, and Steerforth Press for giving me the opportunity to review this book. It'll come out on April 9, 2024.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Classism, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Medical content
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Antisemitism
More...