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Radiolab

The Good Samaritan

Radiolab

WNYC Studios

History, Science, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Society & Culture

4.6 • 44.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 May 2019

⏱️ 71 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On a Tuesday afternoon back in the summer of 2017, Scotty Hatton and Scottie Wightman both made a decision to help someone in need. They both paid a price for their actions that day, which have led to a legal, moral, and scientific puzzle about how we balance accountability and forgiveness.  In this episode, we go to Bath County, Kentucky, where, as one health official put it, opioids have created “a hole the size of Kentucky.” We talk to the people on all sides of this story about stemming the tide of overdoses, we wrestle with the science of poison and fear, and we try to figure out when the drive to protect and help those around us should rise above the law. This story was reported by Peter Andrey Smith with Matt Kielty, and produced by Matt Kielty. Special thanks to Earl Willis, Bobby Ratliff, Ronnie Goldie, Megan Fisher, Alan Caudill, Nick Jones, Dan Wermerling, Terry Bunn, Robin Thompson and the staff at KIPRC, Charles Landon, Charles P Gore, Jim McCarthy, Ann Marie Farina, Dr. Jeremy Faust and Dr. Ed Boyer, Justin Brower, Kathy Robinson, Zoe Renfro, John Bucknell, Chris Moraff, Jeremiah Laster, Tommy Kane, Jim McCarthy, Sarah Wakeman, and Al Tompkins.  Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.      CDC recommendations on helping people who overdose: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/patients/Preventing-an-Opioid-Overdose-Tip-Card-a.pdf Find out where to get naloxone: https://prevent-protect.org/

Transcript

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0:00.0

Before we start, the following story contains a moment or two that's pretty intense and may not be suitable for young kids.

0:11.8

Wait, you're listening.

0:12.9

Okay.

0:14.2

All right.

0:15.4

Okay.

0:16.8

All right.

0:18.4

You're listening to Radio Lab.

0:21.2

Radio Lab. Radio Lab.

0:21.6

From W. N. Y.

0:23.7

C.

0:24.6

See?

0:24.9

Yeah.

0:28.7

So, Peter.

0:30.1

Yeah.

0:31.3

Where do you want to launch into this?

0:33.6

Yeah, we're going to start with this call.

0:36.6

Tuesday, August, 8, 2017're going to start with this, um, call. Tuesday, August 8, 2017.

0:41.4

This is a call from Bath County, Eastern Kentucky.

0:43.8

13.51 and 26 seconds.

0:52.7

It's a call from dispatch to...

0:55.6

The Bath County EMS Station.

0:59.1

These are the people that are dispatched to medical emergencies.

...

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