Over the past two decades, as fatal drug overdoses have risen  precipitously, few professions have been hit harder by the crisis than  the medical community. Physicians in particular have found themselves in  the no-win position of being both blamed for the overdose crisis, which  claimed more than 100,000 American lives in the past 12 months, while  being tasked with containing it.

According to one dominant narrative, it was cavalier doctors who  sparked the crisis in the first place, by overprescribing habit forming  narcotic painkillers to millions of Americans after being softened up at  lavish dinners and then duped by nefarious pharmaceutical reps using  fudged data.

But that’s overly simplistic. For starters, it ignores the fact that the greatest spike in drug deaths came when doctors reigned in opioid  prescribing after authorities started targeting so-called pill mills.  This left tens of thousands of pain patients stranded and paved the way  for the introduction of illicitly made fentanyl into the U.S. to fill  unmet demands.

Narcotica co-host Christopher Moraff delves into this topic, asking  how the medical community can work to restore trust from their patients  who are justifiably suspicious of the U.S. healthcare system, speaking  with doctors Ashish Thakrar and Ben Cocchiario, who both work for the  University of Pennsylvania medical system in Philadelphia, a focal point  of the overdose crisis. They cover everything from methadone  prescribing to overfunding the DEA, all of it underlining the importance  of patient autonomy.

Follow Ben Cocchiaro at UPenn
Follow Ashish Thakrar on Twitter @especially_APT

If you liked this episode, here are others you might enjoy:
Episode 46: Behind The Pharmacists’ Counter with Jessica Moreno
Episode 36: Moral Hazards and Naloxone, A Toxicologist’s Perspective
Episode 30: Getting Wrecked with Dr. Kim Sue

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Producers: Christopher Moraff, Troy Farah, Zachary Siegel
Co-producer: Aaron Ferguson
Music: Glass Boy / Nomad1
Intro voice: Jenny Schaye
Image: Stockvault // edit: Troy Farah