The emotional cost was grueling. And eventually, the financial cost became unbearable.
Lynn Massingill, 53, of Coweta County, said she’s spent tens of thousands of dollars to help two close relatives fight addictions to Percocet, a painkiller that combines oxycodone and acetaminophen.
Unable to kick their habits, they’ve constantly come to her for support.
“I don’t really have much now in savings,” she said. “But when it’s your family, it is hard to say no. I won’t let them be without food.”
The opioid epidemic is taking a grim toll in overdose deaths – more than the number caused by car crashes or guns. But as Massingill's story shows it is also ravaging family finances and even, according to some experts, becoming a drag on the U.S. economy...
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