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

America, the overdose nation.

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

The daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

More Americans are dying every year from prescription drug overdoses than auto accidents, gunshot, wounds, or suicide. The tolls more than 100 a day. Two California district attorneys sued five drug companies yesterday asking for public protection against a campaign of deception. But the narcotic painkillers involved have been approved by the FDA.

Is a government agency helping create a population of addicts?

What's the role of physicians who write the prescriptions?

Are they ill-informed, poorly trained, or trying to make money?

Today's talking point, a new case for a historic controversy, reparations for black Americans.

First, here's the news.

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Hello again, Warren. I'll be back with To the Point. An epidemic of prescription drug overdoses is killing 100 people a day in the United States.

Military veterans and professional athletes are among those at risk from addiction to painkillers, more dangerous than they seem.

From Vermont to California, states and localities are fighting back, but the drugs involved are approved by the FDA.

Today's talking point, slavery was just the beginning of

American piracy against black people. It's not too late to discuss reparations. That's

according to Tonahasi quotes of the Atlantic magazine. We'll talk with him. First, this news update.

After six months of political upheaval in Thailand, the military has seized power from

a caretaker government. It's the 12th coup in Thailand in a little over 80 years.

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