Jul 8, 2022
In this podcast episode, we interview the courageous authors of “American Cartel-Inside the Battle to Bring Down the Opioid Industry” - Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz. Scott and Sari give behind the scenes detail about their definitive investigation and exposé of how some of the nation's largest corporations created and fueled the opioid crisis. The book is an indictment of the astonishing corporate greed and government complicity; of mercenary lobbyists and lawyers sustained by bought-off politicians - with names that may surprise you.
During the interview, Scott describes how employees of drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp. wrote an email making fun of the theme song for the “Beverly Hillbillies.” This parody describes how “pillbillies” drove south to obtain drugs at Florida pill mills. “Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed / A poor mountaineer, barely kept his habit fed,” the song begins, chronicling how Jed goes to Florida, which is described as having a “lax attitude” about pills, or “Hillbilly Heroin.”
Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz are Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporters for The Washington Post. They were both lead reporters on the Post’s “The Opioid Files” series, which was a Pulitzer Finalist for Public Service in 2020.
The book is available at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/American-Cartel-Inside-Battle-Industry/dp/1538737205.
Here’s the link to the adaptation that you can access for free. https://wapo.st/3uthr1a