From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Doctors Opioids and Drug Addiction.

Hello again, I'm Orinaldney, and this is To the Point.

Drug overdose has become a leading cause of death in America, and President Trump has declared a national emergency.

The White House has yet to explain what that means, but there's no doubt doctors have overprescribed

opioids once thought to be safe for treating severe pain. The cure has been worse than the problem.

Opioids are so addictive that patients are driven to illegal drugs, and there's an epidemic of deadly overdoses.

We'll go to the hardest hit place in the country. We'll learn how doctors are cracking down on their colleagues, and how Washington might or might not help out.

On our talking point later, what will American democracy look like after Donald Trump?

Part two of my conversation with Norman Ornstein.

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Hello again, Mormon-Aulay, back with To the Point.

Medical advances should be driving America's average life expectancy up, but instead it's going down. The cause, an epidemic of deadly overdoses driven by doctors overprescribing legal painkillers that make their patients addicted to drugs.

We heard about prevention and treatment. Later on today's talking point, a leading critic says

the Trump administration could unite a coalition of corporate leaders, progressives, and conservatives.

If we get that kind of awakening, then we can take back the country.

Norman Ornstein's back for part two of our conversation.

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