National Network for Equitable Library Service

The Opioid Epidemic is the worst man-made epidemic in the history of our nation. More people die each year from an opioid overdose than in automobile accidents. The statistics are staggering. Do No Harm spotlights experts, journalists, and public-health crusaders who are combating the special interests of Big Pharma and informing the world on how an aggressive pharmaceutical mass-marketing campaign for the new drug OxyContin misled doctors and the public into our current crisis of death and addiction. Wiland highlights the stories of those hit hardest by prescription-opioid addiction and overdose death and sheds light on how whole communities have been ravaged by the spread of addiction. Despite regional health experts, local government, law enforcement, journalists, and the DEA's efforts to combat the epidemic, people continue to die at an alarming rate from prescription-drug overdoses. The chapters of this book chronical this epidemic in all its complexity from many perspectives including the plight of the millions of Americans who suffer from opioid addiction. People, young and old, on the rocky road to recovery tell their harrowing stories, current victories, and on-going struggles with the disease.