"Dopesick," Beth Macy, Little, Brown & Co., 376 pages, $28.
Early warnings haunt the pages of "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America," a harrowing, deeply compassionate dispatch from the heart of a national emergency. The third book by Beth Macy — the author of "Factory Man" and "Truevine" — is a masterwork of narrative journalism, interlacing stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference.
Macy began investigating the drug epidemic in 2012 as it seeped into the suburbs around her adopted hometown, Roanoke, Va., where she worked for 20 years at the Roanoke Times. The further Macy wades into the wreckage of addiction, the more damning her indictment becomes.
Particularly grotesque is the enthusiasm with which Purdue Pharma peddled its pills. In the first five years, OxyContin was on the market, total bonuses for the company's sales staff grew from $1 million to $40 million. Zealous reps could earn quarterly bonuses as high as $100,000.
Doctors were plied with all-expense-paid resort trips, free tanks of gas and deliveries of Thanksgiving turkeys. There were even "starter coupons" offering new patients a free 30-day supply. Sales rocketed into the billions.
The final third of "Dopesick" is dedicated to recovery. While Macy offers some glimmers of hope, what echoes long after one closes this book are the unsettling words of Tess Henry's mother about her daughter: "There is no love you can throw on them, no hug big enough that will change the power of that drug."
NEW YORK TIMES
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More From Star Tribune
More From Business
Minneapolis
Minneapolis approves $15 minimum for cigarette packs, highest in U.S.
The city's tobacco crackdown allows existing limited "sampling" inside cigar lounge.
Business
As Biden celebrates computer chip factories, voters wait for the promised production to start
President Joe Biden has a great economic story to tell voters a decade from now, less so in 2024.
Business
Union Pacific's first-quarter profit creeps up 1% as railroad limits expenses
Union Pacific's first-quarter profit crept 1% higher as the railroad tightened up on expenses — particularly its fuel bill — even though it delivered slightly less freight.
Business
The TikTok law kicks off a new showdown between Beijing and Washington. What's coming next?
TikTok is gearing up for a legal fight against a U.S. law that would force the social media platform to break ties with its China-based parent company, a move almost certainly backed by Chinese authorities as the bitter U.S.-China rivalry threatens the future of a wildly popular way for young people in America to connect online.
Business
Stock market today: Wall Street tumbles after dispiriting data on the economy, as Meta sinks
U.S. stocks are tumbling Thursday after a dispiriting cocktail of data suggested both that the economy's growth is flagging and that inflation remains stubbornly high. A sharp drop for Meta Platforms, one of Wall Street's most influential stocks, also dragged the market lower.