John Oliver devoted his latest Last Week Tonight episode to checking in on the opioid epidemic, which experts consider to be in its fourth wave in the US. The first was the increase of opioid prescriptions in the 1990s, the second began in 2010 with heroin, the third began in 2013 with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and the fourth is characterized by fentanyl mixed with a stimulant such as cocaine, often spiked without users’ knowledge.
“To the extent that there is any good news here, it’s that the companies most implicated in that first wave – drugmakers and other players in the supply chain that pumped pills into communities – have finally been forced to pay a price for their actions,” said Oliver, citing the more than $50bn awarded in lawsuits over 18 years to state and local governments.
