For Discussion | November 2017 | Bloomberg | Opioid-Crisis Cost Revised to $504 Billion in Sixfold Surge

Link from one year ago: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-20/trump-economists-say-opioid-crisis-much-bigger-than-envisioned

That was the cost to the American economy in 2015: ~2.8 percent of GDP, according to a report by the Council of Economic Advisers.

It raises a question about our political system that cuts to the heart of our efforts at prevention...  Can companies that stand to make billions of dollars use a fraction of these proceeds to exert enough influence to get their way for a while (i.e., circumventing efforts to potentially prevent the crisis itself), even when doing so ultimately costs our nation trillions of dollars (a massive net loss in dollars -- and in lives)?

There are a number of possible sides to this debate, but in light of discussion generated in a previous thread regarding recent litigation, I believe this larger question is worth raising/discussing...