How the Pharmaceutical Industry Is Making Money on Your Overdose

America has a prescription pill problem. According to a CDC report released this month, doctors wrote 259 million opioid prescriptions in 2012—which means that in some states, there are more painkiller prescriptions than people. Both doctors and pharmaceutical companies profit from overprescribing the pills that have led to the rise in America’s harrowing narcotic addiction, and now that opioid overdose is among the leading causes of death, they’ve also found a way to profit from the antidote, naloxone.