[okareaman]

A single letter written 40 years ago did not cause the opiod epidemic. It was part of a movement to reassess the use of pain medication to ease chronic pain. By movement I mean it was part of a change in the zeitgeist among doctors and pharmaceutical companies. No doctor read this letter and said to themselves, well I guess narcotics are not addictive anymore and I can prescribe them without concern. I don't know why people want to make reductive arguments.

[monocasa]

It absolutely did, the article even goes into how new printings of the same journal now come with a public health warning because of the number of times it was cited, how it had subsequently been debunked, and the overall effect it had on the industry.