Table of Contents

Contents1. Introduction: The Prescription Drug Epidemic2. What is Addiction and Who's at Risk? 3. Pain is Dangerous, Difference is Psychopathology: The Role of Illness Narratives4. Big Pharma Joins Big Medicine, Co-Opting Medical Science to Promote Pill-Taking 5. The Drug-Seeking Patient: Malingering vs the Hijacked Brain 6. The Professional Patient: Illness as Identity and a Right to Be Compensated7. The Compassionate Doctor, the Narcissistic Injury, and the Primitive Defense8. Pill Mills and the Toyota-ization of Medicine 9. Addiction, the Disease Insurance Companies Still Won't Pay Doctors to Treat10. Stopping the Cycle of Compulsive Prescribing Bibliography

Promotional Information

A unique and appealing look at the prescription opioid epidemic. Lembke's broad contextual discussion of the changing history of organized medicine's approach to pain is fascinating. -- G. Caleb Alexander, MD, MS, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness Lembke's novel viewpoint, brilliant synthesis of information, and use of patient stories bring the text to life. -- Marcus A. Bachhuber, MD, MSPH, Albert Einstein College of Medicine / Montefiore Medical Center Dr. Lembke is a fearless, authentic voice on the over-prescription of addictive painkillers and its terrible public health consequences. Drug Dealer, MD brings together her experience as a physician and her wisdom as a public policy analyst to create a must-read book for anyone who is grappling with America's ongoing opioid addiction and overdose crisis. -- Keith Humphreys, Stanford University

About the Author

Anna Lembke, MD, is the chief of addiction medicine and an assistant professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Reviews

A thought-provoking study that all healthcare professionals and patients should read. Library Journal ... a story with mythic resonance. Times Higher Education "... excellent... It's a short book, concisely written, giving plenty of examples of patients' stories while at the same time showing trends in policy and national practice." Metapsychology Drug Dealer, MD offers a fresh, comprehensive perspective on addiction and prescription drugs. The patient narratives provide compassionate, albeit sometimes extreme, examples of how the medical field has failed patients, while the data provide the facts needed to prove that this truly is a system failure rather than any one person's fault. This thought-provoking book should be a must-read for medical trainees, providers, and health policy leaders working at the forefront of addressing the prescription drug epidemic. Health Affairs Anna Lembke sheds light on the rise of prescription drug addiction in the USA, fuelled in part by the actions of doctors and the structure of the US healthcare system. London School of Economics Review of Books ... The book is written in a clear, easy-to-read style with lay readers in mind. Pharmaceutical Journal ... once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Drug Dealer, MD ... the most important medical book of the decade. -- Abigail Zuger Undark As far as I am concerned, "Drug Dealer, M.D.," in less than 200 unassuming, readable, and carefully referenced pages, may be the most important medical book of the decade for finally getting the story of this epidemic exactly right... every doctor and concerned citizen can take a first step in the right direction by reading Anna Lembke's book.