The roots of the opioid epidemic

Guests: Keith Wailoo, Lenny Bernstein

Pharmaceutical companies, drug distributors, doctors, drug stores and illegal street dealers have all played a role in the opioid epidemic. Overdoses from opioids killed 64,000 people last year – over 900 in Philadelphia alone—making this the deadliest drug epidemic in American history. Last month President Trump declared it a national health emergency, but has yet to request funds to combat the crisis. This hour, we’ll dissect the epidemic and look at its roots with Princeton University professor KEITH WAILOO and author of Pain: A Political History, and LENNY BERNSTEIN, health and medicine reporter for The Washington Post.