The opioid epidemic has dominated the 24-hour news cycle for the past four years. Drug overdose deaths have surpassed car accidents pursuant to accidental deaths. Drug overdose deaths were exacerbated by a spike in opioid-relate drug overdoses. Fentanyl has been so prevalent in overdose deaths that the CDC started tracking fentanyl-related drug overdoses separately. The prevailing theory was (1) the spike in opioid prescriptions coincided with runaway overdose deaths so (2) cutting prescriptions would sharply reduce drug overdose deaths.
That said, Andrew Kolodny has made a big name for himself, fueling the flames against prescription opioids. However, drug overdose deaths for the trailing 12 months through April 2021 exceeded 100,000, up nearly 30% Y/Y. About two-thirds of the drug overdose deaths was related to synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl. However, the media continues to promote the narrative that overall opioids or prescription opioids were the culprits.
Last week Dopesick’s Danny Strong and CNN’s Jake Tapper continued the convenient narrative of connecting (1) prescription opioids with (2) the opioid epidemic:
Jake Tapper: Danny, Drug overdose deaths hit a record high during the pandemic. More than 100,000 American deaths in a year. Could you imagine what the response would be by the U.S. government if terrorists killed 100,000 Americans? But here we are doing it to ourselves with pharmaceuticals. More than 75,000 of those were from opioids. That’s 200 people-a-day in this country. During the seven or so minutes you’ll be sitting on the set right now, somebody in American is going to die from an overdose death.
Danny Strong is the executive producer of Hulu’s Dopesick, which is critically acclaimed. The cast includes Michael Keaton, Rosario Dawson, and Peter Sarsgaard, among others. The convenient narrative is a major selling point of the show, which pulls on the public’s heart strings by pointing the finger at Purdue Pharma and other pharmaceutical companies. The convenient narrative is also great for Jake Tapper’s ratings.
The CNN segment was clearly Dopesick and Tapper’s attempt to clap back at Trump And The GE and Dr. William Amarquaye. The day before the Dopesick and Tapper segment, Trump And The GE Parses Kolodny’s Opioid Hoax took place. Along with Dr. Amarquaye, Dr. Jay Joshi and 1,000 people in the chatroom, we exposed Kolodny’s narrative that prescription opioids were fueling the opioid crisis. The crisis would be better characterized as poising and an “illicit fentanyl” crisis. Dopesick and Tapper were obviously in the audience and tried to take the narrative back.
That can only mean one thing – somebody’s lying. Trump And The GE Dissects Dopesick, Jake Tapper’s Opioid Lie is on for Thursday December 9th at 7PM (NYC time). Dopesick and Jake Tapper are invited to attend the event as our special guests. Trump And The GE will bring Bev Schechtman, the Shock Exchange and “that heat.”
Access The Show
You are more than welcome to participate as an audience member and ask questions during the event. The platform is similar to Zoom. The audience can access the show via Google Chrome by clicking the following link —-> https://riverside.fm/studio/trump-and-the-ge-dissects-dopesick-jake-tappers-opioid-lies
