Pain Killer; A "Wonder" Drug's Trail of Addiction and Death

by Barry Meier

• ISBN13: 9781579546380
• ISBN10: 1579546382
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2003-10-17
• Publisher: Rodale Books

Summary

Equal parts crime thriller, medical detective story, and business expos, Pain Killer is a hard-hitting look at how a powerful painkiller touted as the salvation for millions became the prescription for a national tragedy. At its birth the legal narcotic OxyContin was a pharmaceutical industry dream, a 'miracle' drug that heralded a sea change in medical care and opened the door to vast drug company riches. It quickly unleashed a public health disaster of epic scope, touching off a trail of addiction and death. As tales of deadly overdoses made front-page and network news, doctors, narcotics agents, regulators, and lawmakers raced in, scrambling to slow the damage. Behind it all stood one of America's wealthiest and most secretive families and a drug company whose hunger for profit and relentless promotion helped fuel this tragedy. Written by Barry Meier, whose special report in the New York Times triggered national interest in OxyContin, Pain Killer chronicles the rise of the multi-billion-dollar pain management industry and lays bare its excesses and abuses. Meier also shows how public officials, obsessed with the war on illegal drugs, also failed to monitor the misuse of legal but equally deadly narcotics like OxyContin and are ill-prepared to prevent future catastrophes.

Author Biography

Barry Meier is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated investigative reporter for the New York Times and a 2002 recipient of a George Polk Award for outstanding journalism. He lives in New York City with his wife and daughter.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Book of the Dead	p. 1
Pill Hill	p. 5
Senior Night	p. 27
A War Against Pain	p. 49
Magic Bullets	p. 77
Chicken and Biscuits	p. 105
Hot Spots	p. 121
Kiddie Dope	p. 143
A Tacit Understanding	p. 169
The Secrets of Dendur	p. 193
The Body Count	p. 223
Purple Peelers	p. 249
New Beginnings	p. 273
The Pain Industry	p. 289
Afterword	p. 311
Sources and Notes	p. 315
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.