Mainstream Media Shocked Opioid Crisis Hits Pregnant Women, Not Pharma Profits
The story, based on CDC data, highlights a 306% increase in opioid-related hospitalizations for pregnant women between 1999 and 2014. What Newsweek, and most mainstream media, consistently neglect is the context: the pharmaceutical industry's aggressive, well-funded marketing campaigns for opioids, the widespread corruption of medical gatekeepers, and the systemic defunding of public health and
addiction services. Why bother with root causes when you can just declare a 'surge' in unfortunate maternal choices? Perhaps if Newsweek committed to investigating the politicians who took millions from Purdue Pharma and other opioid manufacturers, or the FDA officials who rubber-stamped highly addictive drugs, they might find answers beyond a vague 'opioid epidemic.' (Though, oddly, they seem
experts at tracking foreign lobbying efforts – when it suits a particular narrative). Funny how that works, isn't it? The same system that lets corporations profit from addiction then laments the human cost.