Raising Lazarus

by Beth Macy

A “deeply reported, deeply moving” (Patrick Radden Keefe) account of everyday heroes fighting on the front lines of the overdose crisis, f rom the New York Times bestselling author of Dopesick (inspiration for the Peabody Award-winning Hulu limited series) and Factory Man .

Nearly a decade into the second wave of America's overdose crisis, pharmaceutical companies have yet to answer for the harms they created. As pending court battles against opioid makers, distributors, and retailers drag on, addiction rates have soared to record-breaking levels during the COVID pandemic, illustrating the critical need for leadership, urgency, and change. Meanwhile, there is scant consensus between law enforcement and medical leaders, nor an understanding of how to truly scale the programs that are out there, working at the ragged edge of capacity and actually saving lives.

Distilling this massive, unprecedented national health crisis down to its character-driven emotional core as only she can, Beth Macy takes us into the country’s hardest hit places to witness the devastating personal costs that one-third of America's families are now being forced to shoulder. Here we meet the ordinary people fighting for the least of us with the fewest resources, from harm reductionists risking arrest to bring lifesaving care to the homeless and addicted to the activists and bereaved families pushing to hold Purdue and the Sackler family accountable. These heroes come from all walks of life; what they have in common is an up-close and personal understanding of addiction that refuses to stigmatize—and therefore abandon—people who use drugs, as big pharma execs and many politicians are all too ready to do. 

Like the treatment innovators she profiles, Beth Macy meets the opioid crisis where it is—not where we think it should be or wish it was. Bearing witness with clear eyes, intrepid curiosity, and unfailing empathy, she brings us the crucial next installment in the story of the defining disaster of our era, one that touches every single one of us, whether directly or indirectly. A complex story of public health, big pharma, dark money, politics, race, and class that is by turns harrowing and heartening, infuriating and inspiring,  Raising Lazarus  is a must-read for all Americans.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Politics, History, Health, Addiction, Science

400 pages, Hardcover

First published August 16, 2022

Reviews

[Gloria Hatcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who works on a nearly daily basis with addiction, overdoses, heroin, etc., I was interested in a story that might bring a "human element" to the heroin addiction problem in the US. I was hoping for more of a personal account from all perspectives of people that touch this problem - which is, essentially, everyone. Users, their families, rehab programs, pharmaceutical companies, police, the courts, social services, law makers, etc. Instead, this book was basically a long biased political text book that never gets to the true "why" or "root" of the problem is works so hard to address. It never really brings the myriad of affected people to life. Instead it uses the few personal stories that it does outline to reinforce the author's single belief on how to address the opioid epidemic. I suppose, if you are looking for reinforcement and facts to support your already established belief on the opioid epidemic and not to learn a more broad understanding, then this book is for you. I give her a lot of credit for being so dedicated to research and activism for what she believes in.

[Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible work of compassion, on Macy's part to chronicle this and of all the people who are doing what they can in harm reduction work to help community members who have been horribly failed by medical professionals, big pharma, the government, law enforcement, and anyone else who could've pointed this in a different direction any earlier.

Please, please read this if you still think that the "they have to be allowed to hit rock bottom" approach to the opioid epidemic is correct.

[Penelope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raising Lazarus follows the people with boots on the ground in the opioid crisis—the volunteers, advocates, families, and survivors fighting to save lives and heal broken and battered communities. Beth Macy digs deep into their struggles and reveals the terrible toll of the epidemic with a caring and compassionate lens. She also weaves the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic into her analysis of what can only be described as a destructive tsunami of overdose deaths and injuries. From the horrific loss of life and economic potential to reducing the nation’s average life expectancy, Macy demonstrates how no American is untouched by the crisis.

Macy chronicles in-depth the battle to hold the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma financially and morally responsible for their role in America’s opioid epidemic. So as much as Raising Lazarus addresses loss and suffering, it also follows a decades-long fight for justice and compensation and offers hope for those working to implement solutions like ethical health care, safe injection sites, harm reduction initiatives, and treatment options. Macy also examines the role race and white supremacy play in further harming and targeting already marginalized communities. Thankfully, Macy’s exposure of greed, power, and racism is balanced by examples of generosity, personal sacrifice, and grassroots and community activism.

As a Canadian, I wasn’t always familiar with the different agencies, counties, government structures etc., which made geopolitical context challenging to grasp at times. However, I saw this as a learning opportunity, and the writing rings true no matter where you are in the world. Raising Lazarus teaches us that the suffering of those living with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) doesn’t care about borders and boundaries.

If you read Dopesick, you’ll want to pick this up for Macy’s 360-degree look at the opioid crisis. You don’t need to have read Dopesick, however, to appreciate the insights of Raising Lazarus. I’d recommend this for non-fiction readers interested in today’s most pressing social issues.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Dopesick in early 2019 and it was an extremely eye-opening look at how the opioid epidemic was created and encouraged by Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. While Dopesick looks at how this whole thing started, Raising Lazarus is supposed to be about "hope, justice, and the future of America's overdoes crisis" per the subtitle. But, there wasn't much of any of that in Raising Lazarus. Macy covers grassroots "harm reduction" efforts in some of the areas hardest hit by the opioid epidemic, but she also intersperses coverage of a bankruptcy hearing for the Sackler family that would shield several billions of their profits from future lawsuits. While a chapter or two about the bankruptcy would have added to the book, going back and forth between the bankruptcy and the heart-breaking stories of people trying to help addicts just felt very choppy and all over the place. This book didn't feel like it had a clear trajectory - it was just a bunch of random stories about people trying their best to fight this huge epidemic in their small towns with several chapters of VERY specific bankruptcy information.

She was also very political and clearly believes that Republicans are the problem and why this opioid epidemic is still raging. Despite the fact that Obama had two terms during the height of things his lack of effort is barely mentioned, while other Republican leaders are blasted repeatedly. Let me be clear - I am NOT a Republican or a Democrat, but every one of the people in federal government are responsible for taking money from lobbyists and creating laws around their pet issues (or whoever gives them the most money) with zero regard for the public they are supposed to be serving. Her blatant political agenda got old for me really fast. This is an extremely complex issue with no quick or easy answers from politicians or anyone.

Reading this book really reminded me of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Most people were afraid and felt like the people who had AIDS (or opioid addiction) did it to themselves and they should suffer the consequences. There were lots of grassroots efforts to help AIDS patients that did eventually help turn the societal tide toward more understanding and less hate and fear. I think this is similar. Many of the people doing this hard, grassroots work with addicts are former addicts or family members who lost someone to overdose. To me this is also a huge missed opportunity for the Church to show people who are hurting the most the love of Christ. I believe Jesus would be helping AIDS patients and addicts (and prostitutes, drug dealers, etc.) if He were around today. This is hard, uncomfortable work and Macy does do a good job of highlighting the people who are really making a difference in their work around this issue. But, it's by no means a hopeful book. Yes, there are a few programs that are really working that could be replicated around the country - will they? I don't know. Again, there are no easy answers to this. And while I didn't love this book I would still recommend it because this is a HUGE issue that is still often swept under the rug.

Some quotes I liked:

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than a million Americans have died from drug overdose since 1996, the largest factor by far in decreasing life expectancy for Americans...Within the first pandemic year, the overdoes count was 29 percent higher than the year before, and the numbers kept climbing. By late 2021, it was clear that addiction had become the No. 1 destroyer of families in our time, with almost a third of Americans reporting it as a serious cause of family strife, and drug overdoses claiming the lives of more than 100,000 Americans in a year - more than from car crashes and guns combined." (p. xiii)

[On the inspiration for the title of the book] "As with the disciples who unwrapped a raised-from-the-dead Lazarus at Jesus's command, Rev. [Michelle] Mathis explained, 'it doesn't always smell like flowers, and you might get a little something on you. But the people who are willing to work at the face-to-face level get to see the miracle and look it in the eye.'" (p. xvii)

"Lest you think the two weren't in bed together, Purdue Pharma executives literally rented a suite of hotel rooms down the road from the Rockville, Maryland, FDA headquarters in 1995 - for the express purpose of collaborating with FDA officials to speed up the OxyContin medical review...the drug's FDA approval officer, Dr. Curtis Wright, went to work for Purdue soon after, earning $379,000 a year." (p. 60)

"Insys [the maker of the fentanyl lollipop] was maybe even more brazen in its sales practices than Purdue, though, at one point hiring as a sales rep a stripper who gave the doctor a lap dance as enticement for him to prescribe more of its products." (p. 74)

"...by the time the first cohort of the Courts Addiction & Drug Services (CADS program) graduated, not a single person had overdosed. Thirty-four out of fifty-one had completed the program with no issues; of the third that had relapsed, half reengaged immediately with treatment. When Nikki presented the results to her doctoral dissertation committee, she noted that 97 percent of her patients had co-occurring mental illnesses and 76 percent had documented PTSD. Overprescribed benzos and opioid pills had been by far her patients' biggest gateways to heroin and meth use...When Nikki asked the first CADS cohort to name a short-term goal, one man said he wanted a second pair of pants. Another wished to taste salmon for the first time. She was stunned how common hunger was...'A lot of SUD [Substance Use Disorder] programs just tackle the SUD, but they don't do anything with the underlying trauma and co-occurring mental health disorders. So it becomes, 'Don't do drugs, don't do drugs.' Well, they already know that! Our program's focus is, how do we get you to a place where you can cope with the things in your life?'" (p. 93)

"While [Duane] Slone remained an outlier in rural law enforcement, he was also a powerful reminder of what enlightened elected officials could do when they worried more about doing the right thing than about winning their next reelection campaign." (p. 205)

"It takes time to soften people who are traumatized, the Kentucky activist Robert Gipe said. 'There's still a lot of anger mixed in with the grief when it comes to the SUD sufferers in a family,' he said. 'Yes, SUD is a disease, but those with that disease don't just cough and sneeze and ask you to bring them a glass of water. They steal and lie and fuck up Thanksgiving and break our hearts.'" (p. 274)

[Hillary Copsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one is covering the opioid/overdose epidemic in America as thoroughly or as compassionately as Beth Macy. This book continues the work she began in Dopesick. Macy alternates between the stories of the lawyers and families trying to hold Purdue and the Sackler family accountable for the epidemic of addiction and death that began with OxyContin, and the stories of the grassroots efforts to help people suffering from opioid use disorder. Along the way, Macy makes it clear that this is not just about addiction -- this epidemic is about the myriad broken systems in American society.

[Brielle | bookswithbrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Little Brown & Company and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

For the better part of 2021 I DEVOURED any books I could on the opioid crisis. I've seen this crisis affect people first hand and instead of playing ignorant I was determined to understand it. Dopesick was the first book I picked up. Beth Macy's novel turned into a HULU show and I'm convinced it was her dedication to the topic that held the Sackler family's feet to the fire. As of March 2022, they owe 6 billion dollars in lawsuits.. but getting there was much harder than it should have been.

Raising Lazarus picks up where Dopesick left off. It was more of the WHAT'S NEXT of this crisis that is literally killing over 100,000 people a year. A YEAR. That number even higher with the COVID pandemic. The stigma around addiction is bad-- but figuring out how we TREAT this crisis is even harder. Macy literally follows people on the front line, people meeting those with this disease where they are: trailers, under bridges, parking lots.

I learned a lot from this book. I felt uncomfortable at times. It tested some of my beliefs on what we as citizens and what our government should be doing to curb the disaster that Oxycontin created for so many people. I highly, highly encourage everyone to pick up Dopesick/ or watch the movie. Then I challenge you to go outside your comfort zone and read Raising Lazarus.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Beth Macy brings you to the human side of addiction while challenging us to push for concrete and sustainable change. Highly recommend this nonfiction work to everyone and anyone.

[Allyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook. I really did not like this book. It's the sixth book I've read on into the opioid crisis. I was drawn in by the promise to learn more about grassroots ways people are helping to quell this issue. Unfortunately, the book had terrible structure, was highly political (and inconsistent to fit her political agenda), and didn't really bring much new information to the table. Lastly, it spent way too much time on the Sackler's bankruptcy. Maybe a chapter would have been okay, but this was a major thread in the book.

The following op-ed article that the author wrote in August 2022 in the NYTimes is more than enough to summarize the book: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/op.... I wish I had only read that article....

Would have given one star, but if this is someone's first book into understanding the crisis, it's not the worst.

[Sarah Ferguson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked her book “Dopesick” a lot - this was just bad. I made it a couple chapters in then stopped reading. Plenty of good books out there on the subject. This isn’t one of them.

[Kasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pain of addiction, money grab and few good souls who are brave enough to do something about it.

[Ruth]

Beth Macy has reported on the opiate epidemic through her successful book (which was made into a mini-series) Dopesick. In this volume, she reports on the harm reduction community and the people trying to make a difference in the lives of addicted people on the street and marginalized communities.

There are fewer anecdotes with drug users and their families than in Dopesick. In Raising Lazarus, much of the book is the story of prosecution of the Sacklers and insight into how they have managed to escape severe consequences from their marketing of OxyContin, and interviews with people who are dedicated to preventing additional overdoses by providing clean needles, health care, and options for those using drugs.

Very enlightening insight into the immense resources needed to begin to tackle the epidemic. Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impeccably reported and written, this book tells us what is happening with our country’s addiction to opioids and why it’s occurring. Here’s a hint-the Sackler family! I loved Dopesick and the Netflix miniseries as well so this was an easy pick. Macy narrated the audio book. Highly recommend!

[Debbie Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars rounded up. This started out great but instead of staying on point she kept going off on political stuff. Some I found interesting and it pertained but too much throughout the book. This was, putting politics aside, about the people who are really making a difference out there. Giving so much of themselves to make a difference. Also I enjoyed the update on the Sackler family. They all belong in prison. It’s also about those who’ve lost loved ones to addiction and those who are in recovery. I also didn’t like that she seemed to constantly put down the 12 step programs that do indeed work as one did for a family member of mine. I work in the court system and one of my courts is Drug Court. I see what this crisis has done daily. Truly heartbreaking. When I see someone (and they’re usually very young) that doesn’t make their court date I say a prayer hoping they’re okay. Too many times days later I get their notice of death.

[Kathy (Bermudaonion) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In DOPESICK Beth Macy educated readers on the opioid crisis in America and the Sackler family’s role in it. Her follow up, RAISING LAZARUS, shows what needs to be done to combat substance abuse disorders and drug overdoses and she shines a spotlight on some of the people who are in the trenches fighting the good fight daily. She points out that “It is a worrisome paradox that our nation, which leads the world in medical research spending, has among the world’s worst outcomes for addiction and mental health.”

As usual, I found Macy’s research to be top notch and her writing to be engaging and thought provoking. Both DOPESICK and RAISING LAZARUS are must reads for anyone who wants to learn about the overdose crisis in America.

[Lindsay JC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opened my eyes to WILD post-COVID data surrounding addiction, the attempts/mild successes/astounding failures in caring for those suffering with addiction, and changed the way I as a healthcare worker will approach my field. Pissed me RIGHT OFF in all the best ways

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book for Macy to write after Dopesick. The country has changed so much since then and so has the opioid epidemic. So being able to see what’s been done, what works, and what has been learned makes this book a valuable read

[Sarah Greenawalt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is truly eye opening.. everyone should read it!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend that everyone read this but only after you have finished Dopesick, also by Beth Macy. Truly eye opening and heartbreaking.

[Maddy Thursby · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading about the opioid epidemic never fails to blow my mind with how wide reaching it is, preventable it was, and how currently leaders are failing so miserably to act. this book really focused on how current “solutions” in government to the epidemic are not based in evidence or what those impacted need. and then don’t even get me started on the sacklers. I don’t know how you can be so damn evil

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When will the Purdue Pharma/Sackler story ever end? When will Americans realize that the old way of treating addiction does not work and start implementing proven methods of treatment? How many people have to die or be slaves to their opioid addictions before change occurs? Beth May provides some answers in this book. Who will read and listen?

[Aaryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and extensively researched folow up to Dopesick. Recommended for fans of Empire of Pain, this book will (and should) make you angry.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important topic to be sure, but I am in the same line of thinking as the NYT review when they say that this book tries to do too much. "Like hugging 18 elephants." The book "Empire of Pain" is what I'd recommend about the Sackler family and even the author's first book "Dopesick" for this topic. On the other hand, the highlighting of the harm reduction as a viable option to help us out of this terrible crisis. The highlighting of grassroots orgs throughout the country is enlightening.

[Annika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in an area that is explicitly named and talked about in this book. I had no idea my county had one of the most progressive opioid programs in both our community and jail system in the country. I have never been personally touched by opioids and I have the privilege of not knowing anyone who has lost someone to opioids. This is not the reality for the majority of people my county and the majority of people living in the US, and the fact that I was so unaware of this is shameful. I want everyone to read this book. This should be required reading for all Americans, especially those who don’t think opioid addicts deserve help and should have to hit rock bottom before they can get help.

Raising Lazarus is a continuation of Beth Macy’s journalism work into America’s opioid crisis. This book is a continuation of her book ‘Dopesick’, which I also enjoyed reading earlier this year. The focus in Raising Lazarus is on the people who are actively trying to get help and spread awareness for the opioid crisis. Their work includes trying to get legislation passed, clinics open, and structurally destigmatizing opioids and their users. She takes us through the daily lives of different people, and their organizations, who are actively fighting for local, state, and national recognition and destigmatization of this crisis. This book provides the reader with a unique perspective as her focus is on those who are helping, not necessarily those who need to be helped, like how Dopesick was written. The people she spends time with and writes about have all been touched by opioids in some way having either used them or losing a child or family member to addiction and overdose. The book also discusses the lack of funding and the hypocrisy in our governmental system and their handling of these issues. Her book also extends out of Virginia and includes this battle in other Appalachian states such as West Virginia and Kentucky.

The time she was collecting her research for this book happened to coincide with the Covid-19 pandemic which added another layer to the dept of this crisis. The life stories and events that are written about are often heartbreaking and difficult to read, but they are so important and not touched on enough. There is one constant emphasis throughout the book, and it is the importance of treating those who suffer from OUD (opioid use disorder) as people and knowing that they can recover. Recovery for opioids is unlike every other drug and addictive substance and that fact is unknown and misunderstood.

There is so much that I learned while reading this book. Macy drew connections between issues that I would not have even thought about but after she made the connection, I was disappointed in myself that it didn’t occur to me earlier. She spends time talking about the Slacker family and Purdue, and the fight people have put up to get any sort of acknowledgement of their complicity in the cause of this epidemic. She talks about AIDs and the prevalence of Hepatitis C and their prevalence in OUD communities. She includes so many tools, resources, and statistics to explain to the reader how recovery should be done and how widespread this epidemic truly is. The statistics were the hardest part of this book for me to read.

[Ladz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook
Content/trigger warnings: COVID-19, overdose, vomiting, prison, drug abuse, structural inequality, death of relatives

This book is a kind of sequel to Dopesick, in that it is a continuation of Beth Macy’s research and investigation into the impact and extent of the devastation left behind by the Sackler’s mismarketing and straight-up lying about the acute and long-term effects of their so-called miracle drug. There is some follow-up with the activists, doctors, and caregivers from the initial investigation, with several new key players in the movement to curb overdose deaths both within Appalachia and nationwide.

Though “hope” is in the subtitle, this volume reckons with the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down many of the boots-on-the-ground work with regards to harm reduction and further stigmatization and rethinking addiction as a disease rather than a personal failing. It does end, however, with action items that the reader can take on personal, political, and local levels.

This book is not a feel-good story. The details within follow-up on the situations and people featured in Dopesick, and, in many cases, things have not gotten better. Especially with COVID-19 disrupting availability of hospital beds, personal protective equipment, and the ability to gather in close quarters. Macy does not shy away from the grittier details, but it’s not designed to put off people from reality; in fact, her depiction and narration serve to elicit compassion and empathy. The word is hard, both from a standpoint of being able to handle the work and navigating those who get in the way. In some ways, the roadblocks to treatment are more harrowing than coming down with substance use disorder to begin with. Macy takes great care in showing all the people and steps involved in helping those affected survive, especially when the treatment and approaches defy past research and recovery theory for addiction as a whole. It’s all presented in a way that asks the reader to recognize and reconsider their own biases. It’s effective, and it’s left me with much food for thought.

While not coddling at all, the book does end with a list of action items to help those in one’s immediate community, political actions, supporting harm reduction locally and nationally, and more. I’ve already subscribed to the newsletter for the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, and encourage readers to do the same for their state and local municipalities.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several gripes about this book:
1. I don't really know what this book is about. Several chapters explore the stories and lives of "harm reductionists," and, at times, it seems like she's trying to make the case for needle exchange programs: "see how cool this is?!" I didn't think she made the case very well. Several chapters just followed the Sackler/Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case: "See what jerks these guys are?!" And, again, I didn't really see the point of that. If you've read Patrick Raden Keef's Empire of Pain, you already sort of get it.

2. Beth Macy's characters are pretty one-dimensional. Her heroes are brave, hip, highly educated or streetsmart, compassionate, wise, and loving. Her villains are all cowardly, foolish, lacking in empathy, greedy. After a while, the names kind of run together and you realize that you could write these characters yourself.

3. I wanted a straightforward nonfiction book about the drug epidemic and/or solutions to that. In several parts she includes colorful adjectives such as "But she is eighty-eight years old, works too many fucking hours, and is in danger of getting her lights cut off while the Sackler's light bill is paid for a thousand years in advance." (page 280). Did Macy need to include the word "fucking" to make her point in this nonfiction book? Or this: "The only illicit drug in her urine these days was marijuana -and, if you had seen her before she met Tim, you would understand what a goddamn miracle that was." (page 286). Did she need to include "goddamn?" Is she trying to be "edgy" or cool by peppering her writing with stuff like this? At one point, she declares (and I'm sorry I lost that page number) that data is data and doesn't need to be peer-reviewed.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her followup book to “Dopesick,” Beth Macy reports on the “stone-rollers” doing the harm reduction work in the opioid crisis and what we can all do to combat one of the greatest issues facing America today. I loved the comparison to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. She quotes a pastor who talks about how awful it must have been for Jesus to see and smell Lazarus after he’d been dead for 4 days, but it was worth “getting dirty” to see the miracle of his resurrection.

She reports on those who are doing the hard, sometimes illegal work of keeping users alive. It’s a thoughtful book that challenges a lot of what we’ve been taught about best practices for addiction. It challenges the idea that addicts simply have a “moral failing” while also acknowledging that they hurt, lie to, and steal from their families and others. It’s a disease like and unlike any other. I thought she wrote about this tension well, the idea that it’s a disease, but one that hurts not just the users, but others as well in such a way that she rallies all of us to want to solve this issue. It is not a simple issue to fix by any means.

There’s so much to consider when it comes to harm reduction and it touches every facet of American brokenness: homelessness, trauma, education, violence, incarceration, poverty, etc.

[Jaclyn Hillis]

This book picks up right where Dopesick leaves off. We hear the stories from the lawyers and families trying to hold Purdue and the Sackler family accountable for their role in the epidemic. We also get behind-the-scenes look at the grassroots movement and the volunteers, advocates, families, and survivors working tirelessly to save lives.

“I can’t imagine another disease on the planet where if somebody didn’t get better, everybody in their life would abandon them.”

Macy focuses on how the C0V!D pandemic greatly affected the substance use epidemic — within the first pandemic year, the overdoes count was 29% higher than the year before.

“When you treat marginalized groups like human beings instead of objects, they begin to trust you. Eventually they get better and help others get better too.”

Two words: harm reduction. Giving out clean needles to drug users. Handing out Narcan kits. Giving someone the address to a methadone clinic. Just simply showing support. This is the least we can do. Does someone need to show proof of prescription for Oxy from 20 years ago to receive help? I think not.

Reminder: Addiction is a disease. We still have so much work to do, but it is refreshing to see so many people working towards change. I’m thankful for books like this that get the conversation started.

[Lore BonMD · Rating 2 out of 5]

We learn about activists on syringe service programs. There were boots on the ground who were moved to act for positive change even when law enforcement was not on their side. We read about a grieving mother of a 16 year old overdose but the author doesn’t dive into this story in depth. Here we meet harm reductionists risking arrest to bring lifesaving care to the homeless and addicted. I learned about activists and bereaved families pushing to hold Purdue and the Sackler family accountable for contributing to opiate epidemic. She makes a case for treatment programs.

Dr Jaffe was a psychiatrist who established methadone treatment facilities for heroin addicts. He was appointed in 1971 as chief of President Richard Nixon's drug programs in the Special Action Office of Drug Abuse Prevention. Big pharmaceutical companies had lobby industry that influenced the FDA.

This is a complex story with highlights of different players including the activists, family impacted by opiate tragedies, heads of pharmaceutical companies, government. The book was ambitious but there was redundancy and the personal stories were not memorable for me. I was inspired to learn more about this health care issue and there is urgency in her work.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened via Audible - the same author as Dopesick.

I started this book thinking it was a fictional story (like Demon Copperhead) but its actually the "next chapter" to Dopesick (no you do not have to have read that book but I def would watch the series). A lot of this book takes place in small towns in NC that are right down the road from me which is scary - but the truth is this book could take place in any town across America. This book is sad and scary and kinda left me feeling hopeless. Makes you want to read it, right? I don't know - have we all read enough about the opioid crisis? Probably - but there always seems to be another awful chapter. In case you still are not aware of the Sackler family, you will surely get to know them in this book. Disgusting.

[Liz Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to Raising Lazarus on audiobook. I love listening to the local Beth Macy share her stories, just like I did with Dopesick. Raising Lazarus shares stories of the helpers in the Appalachian area who help those with substance use disorders during the opioid epidemic. It mostly focuses on the impact that COVID had on those with addiction. Raising Lazarus focuses on the importance of evidence based research, harm reduction approaches, and the legal issues with the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma.

This isn't an easy or light read. But it's so important. Beth Macy has done incredible and hard work as a journalist. I'm thankful to have her presence near my hometown and as a substance use treatment provider.

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of an epic struggle against Big Pharma and entrenched attitudes about drug addicts as criminals not people in need of medical care. The Sackler family knew their drug Oxycontin was addictive but did not care because profit meant more than the lives they destroyed. They tried to avoid all responsibility by blaming the victims and using their resources to avoid paying for their crimes. What really raised my ire was how their stooge James Comer (R) senator from Kentucky tried to deflect blame from the Sackler family and raged against their detractors. There were many who lost their lives to this drug more potent than heroin and he is defending these lowlifes? Drug addicts were sent to jail but the Sackler family remains at large. This is a book that makes you feel moral outrage and hopefully leads to social reform.