A shocking, tender novel about a young woman's efforts to sustain a deep hibernation over the course of a year. Our narrator should be happy, shouldn't she? She's young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark hole in her heart, and it isn't just the loss of her parents, or...

Beginning with a single dealer--who lands in a small Virginia town and sets about turning high school football stars into heroin overdose statistics--journalist Beth Macy endeavors to answer a grieving mother's question: why did her only die? She comes away with a harrowing story of greed and need. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy parses how America embraced a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. The...

Citing formidable recovery rates for people addicted to prescription opiates or heroin, a guide inspired by the experiences of addicts in long-term recovery outlines treatment approaches based on new understandings about opiate addiction.

A look at opioid addiction in the US profiles four families whose lives have been decimated by drug abuse that began with legitimate prescriptions to dangerous painkillers that are often a gateway to heroin.

"Prescription drug use in America has increased tenfold in the past fifty years, and over-the counter drug use has risen just as dramatically. In addition to the dozens of medications we take to treat serious illnesses, we take drugs to help us sleep, to keep us awake, to stop our noses from running, our backs from aching, and our minds from racing. Name a symptom, there's a pill to suppress it. Modern drugs can be miraculously life saving, and many...

Examines the toll of opioid addiction in the U.S. on individuals, families, and communities through personal stories, including a couple who lost their son to prescription painkillers, and expert commentary.

The king of the pill mills was American Pain, a mega-clinic that served as a prototype for the rest. From a pristine former bank building, doctors distributed massive quantities of oxycodone to hundreds of customers a day, mostly traffickers and addicts who came by the vanload. Inked muscle-heads ran security, greeting the morning rush of pill poppers with cries of Welcome to the dope hole! Strippers and high-priced hookers operated the pharmacy,...

"Dr. James Kauffman and his wife, April, were the perfect couple: a respected endocrinologist and a beautiful radio host. But under the surface lurked a world of drugs, sex, and biker gangs--and Dr. Kauffman would kill to keep it secret. In May 2012, April Kauffman, a well-known local radio personality and staunch advocate of military veterans rights, was found shot to death in the bedroom of the home she shared with her husband, Dr. James Kauffman....

Mother of a kindergartener, married to her police detective soulmate, Emma has a rewarding career as a doctor at the local hospital. When her son, Josh, is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, she is determined to save him. Emma makes the risky decision to sell opioids to fund the life-saving treatment Josh needs. When somebody ends up dead, a lethal game of cat and mouse ensues-- with her own husband leading the chase. With her son's life hanging...