Book Club Questions
1. Do you think Claire’s previous experience with her sister and opioids assists with her current lawsuit or is more of a hindrance?
2. Is there any justification for Claire’s guilt about her sister’s overdose death?
3. How does Claire’s guilt affect her decisions as a child and as an adult?
4. How high are the stakes for Claire and those she represents? What does she stand to lose regarding her career — and more?
5. Do you think Dana was the cause of Ethan’s death? If so, why did she only poison one guest at the luncheon?
6. Do you think Ethan was as hapless as Dr. Westcott claimed or did Ethan obtain the job to confront Westcott and try to stop his development of opioids?
7. Do you think Phil Westcott is more crazy or more conniving in his development of opioids?
8. Do you think Dr. Westcott realizes the danger of Deprexone and simply doesn’t’ care or is he so blinded by his own success that he doesn’t recognize the harm it’s causing?
9. Do you think Mrs. Satori realizes the gravity of what she did to avenge her daughter’s death?
10. Do you think you could be driven to do the same thing if you lost your daughter to opioids?
11. What do you think Clifford Satori did when he tells Margo he took care of things?
12. How do you think Dr. Delaney dealt with the fact that he prescribed the opioids that killed a patient?
13. How do you think Dr. Delaney deals with the death of Ms. Moss?
14. Do you think this is a struggle doctors in our current medical system deal with when prescribing pain medication to patients or when staff is put in a dangerous situation?
15. The fictional Novo Analgesic Systems, Inc. (NAS) is a stand-in for real pharmaceutical companies that perpetuate the cycle of prescription drug abuse. How are NAS’s tactics illustrative of the ways in which big pharma can manipulate data and marketing in support of drugs that may not be as safe or non-addictive as advertised?
16. Who do you think should be held accountable when opioids are involved in an overdose death?
17. Do you think the prescribing doctor and the patient are equally culpable when opioids are prescribed?
18. What part does society as a whole play in the opioid epidemic?
19. What is the unique power of fiction in capturing and dramatizing ethical and moral dilemmas?
20. What changes, if any, do you think should be made in prescribing opioids?
