TY - JOUR T1 - Books: <em>American Overdose. The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts</em> JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 251 LP - 251 DO - 10.3399/bjgp19X702557 VL - 69 IS - 682 AU - Jack Leach Y1 - 2019/05/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/69/682/251.abstract N2 - McGreal Chris Guardian Faber Publishing, 2018, PB, 336pp, £12.99, 978-1783351688This book describes health and social devastation caused in the US by the rapid growth of potent opiate analgesic prescribing. It analyses the intensive marketing and lobbying of federal regulating bodies, state and federal government, and the powerful influence on medical and pharmacy professional bodies. And the large profits the pharmaceutical industry have made. It looks at experiences of people harmed and how their concerns were ignored by regulating authorities, state and national government. It describes how medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies constructed an epidemic of untreated pain with opioids as a safe and effective first-line treatment.The author … ER -