Beth Macy Archives - Don Kasprzak

Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis by Beth Macy. Beth holds a master’s degree from Hollins University. Her book Dopesick was shortlisted for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Beth is a former reporter for The Roanoke Times from 1989 to 2014 writing extensively about the opioid crisis in Appalachia. Beth has written op-eds for The New York Times. She was awarded the 2010 Nieman Fellowship for Journalism by Harvard University.

From the moment I finished reading Dopesick my attention was drawn to the coming realize of this follow up book. Beth continues addressing the opioid crisis in America. In fact, Beth’s work remains simply R E Q U I R E D reading as this crisis continues devastating our country.

Raising Lazarus certainly moves beyond the Virginia coal mines found in Dopesick. This new book illustrates how America confronted the opioid crisis as COVID locked down the country.

Furthermore, this success is at the grassroots level, not from local or state politicians. There is an overwhelming sadness to read how so many died as pandemic restrictions that shut down critical treatment options.

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company Who Addicted America by Beth Macy. Beth holds a master’s degree from Hollins University. She was a reporter for The Roanoke Times from 1989 to 2014 writing extensively about the opioid crisis in Appalachia.

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

Beth has written op-eds for The New York Times. She was awarded the 2010 Nieman Fellowship for Journalism by Harvard University. In addition, Dopesick was shortlisted for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Additionally, by June 2020 Hulu broadcast a limited series (eight episodes) based upon the book starring Michael Keaton. This is the second book of five that I chose to read to understand the crisis.

Beth has taken time to interview parents of children who died from opioids. In fact, this book moves from the local drug dealer in Virginia in 2012 to the Sackler family and beyond. However, Beth also begins by sharing how a single batch of opioids in Huntington West Virginia would cause 26 overdoses in a single day. This was due to Carfentanil, a synthetic opioid imported from China via the internet. In fact, Carfentanil is 100 times more powerful than Fentanyl, which is roughly 50 times more powerful than heroin.