America’s growing spate of addiction and overdose deaths related to prescription and illicit opioids began almost 40 years ago with the formation of a slow-growing fissure among members of the medical community about limitations on the use of opioids for pain relief. This reluctance to use opioids for non-cancer pain completely dissolved by the time OxyContin—a new and potent opioid painkiller—hit the market for pain management. It was purported to feature low risk for addiction, which proved to be inaccurate.