Painful: One Doctor’s fight against the opioid epidemic and Big Pharma

Ryan Sharpe is a struggling anesthesiologist trying to pay off his massive student loan debt and prepare for a baby when he lands a highly lucrative expert job defending Dr. Richard Washington, CEO of the largest chain of pain clinics in the southeast.

Ryan quickly learns the dark side of the success of Dr. Washington’s pain clinic empire when he discovers a deadly addictive opioid, Ultracodone, is being inappropriately prescribed at his clinics. Ryan’s ethics as a physician compel him to inform Dr. Washington about the unethical prescribing, but Dr. Washington is unmoved.

After confronting Dr. Washington, Ryan’s personal and professional life spirals out of control. His pain clinic is raided, his wife is accused of stealing a box of fentanyl from the hospital where she works as a nurse and his family’s lives are threatened by a mysterious Irishman claiming to work for Dr. Washington.

Desperate for money and out of options, Ryan steals opioids from the hospital pharmacy to finance his acquisition of new identities so he, his wife, and his sister can disappear. Their plan takes an unexpected turn when the Irishman kidnaps his wife to insure Ryan’s allegiance. Ryan must now risk everything if he is to save his wife and successfully execute their plan to begin a new life as new people.

Whitesides unites the medical and legal thriller in one fast-paced, plot twisting tale of personal pain, professional deception, and corporate malfeasance as one doctor fights for his life against an unethical doctor and Big Pharma