ABSTRACT
The book has argued that there are a lot of villains in our story. Chapters 3–5 focused on the development of the opioid epidemics and the role of government. Chapter 6 changes focus to other actors responsible for the epidemic. Chapter 6 argues these other actors include the pharmaceutical industry which aggressively pushed their products, often using misleading information; the FDA by its approval of OxyContin for pain amelioration and then failing to monitor the proliferation of opioids; the DEA for its failure to control production and sale of painkillers despite flashing signals that a problem was occurring. The chapter examines the role of prescribers (i.e., physicians) for conflicts of interest and dependence on drug companies for advice on prescription practices. The chapter also argues that Congress deserves some blame for its failure to appropriately oversee FDA and DEA activities and its bowing to political pressure from the pharmaceutical industry. The final villain is the American public, which believes and has been led to believe that they have a right to be pain-free and that there is a safe pill to accomplish that. The chapter elaborates on all these points.
