Nottingham’s independent bookshop | 14a Long Row, Nottingham NG1 2DH | 0115 8373097
One hundred and fifty Americans are killed each day by the opioid epidemic, described by a former head of the Food and Drug Administration as ‘one of the greatest mistakes of modern medicine’. But as Chris McGreal reveals in American Overdose, it was an avoidable tragedy driven by bad science, corporate greed and a corrupted medical system.
In a narrative brimming with the guilty, the victims and the unlikely heroes, Chris McGreal travels from West Virginia ‘pill mills’ to the corridors of Washington DC as he unravels the story of Big Pharma’s hijacking of American healthcare and politics to push mass prescribing of ‘heroin in a pill’.
He meets the police and FBI agents who struggled to get prosecutors to go after doctors they called ‘drug dealers in white coats’; the families devastated by painkillers they thought would heal, not kill; and the physicians and scientists who took on the drug companies behind the epidemic. The result is an immensely powerful account of the terrible human cost of the crisis, and a stark warning of the consequences of a healthcare system run as a business, not a service.
Postage is calculated at 10% of your order value, minimum £1.00, up to a maximum of £3.00. There is a free postage option at checkout if you are housebound/shielding, on low income, or need help with postage costs for any other reason. Your order will usually arrive within 2-3 working days.
Shop Opening Hours
Monday to Saturday:
10.00am – 5.30pm
Sunday:
12.00pm – 4.00pm
Contact Us:
Five Leaves Bookshop
14a Long Row
Nottingham
NG1 2DH
0115 8373097