Listen
37:29
Prescription drug abuse
Many people are speculating that Michael Jackson may have died from an overdose of prescription pain killers like Demerol and Oxycontin. But regardless of the outcome of his autopsy, Michael Jackson's untimely death is shining a bright light on the problem of prescription drug abuse. Why do people get so easily hooked on prescription pain medication, and to what degree are physicians enabling their addictions?
Many people are speculating that Michael Jackson may have died from an overdose of prescription pain killers like Demerol and Oxycontin. But regardless of the outcome of his autopsy, Michael Jackson's untimely death is shining a bright light on the problem of prescription drug abuse. Why do people get so easily hooked on prescription pain medication, and to what degree are physicians enabling their addictions?
Dr. Joseph Haraszti, psychiatrist, assistant professor of Medicine and USC's Keck School of Medicine and former medical director of Las Encinas Psychiatric Hospital.