9781422274323

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Who Needs Treatment For Opioid Addiction? While serving as a doctor in the US Navy, “Alison” helped to treat an American president and a high-ranking senator, among thousands of other patients. When she left the Navy and began working at a hospital in Appalachia, Alison was regarded as one of the best, most reliable doctors. She dispensed drugs to patients safely for over eighteen years, but never considered using them herself. Until one day her husband, a nurse who misused fentanyl, introduced her to powerful opioids. Within six months, Alison was injecting sufentanil several times a night. She hid syringes in her clothing and injected secretly everywhere in her house, in her car, and after working out at the gym. Sufentanil is the strongest opioid available— five to seven times stronger than fentanyl, and a staggering 4,500 times stronger than morphine.

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Who Needs Treatment For Opioid Addiction?