May 9, 2009, barely able to breathe. A lung biopsy showed that Chanel had pulmonary tuberculosis—likely a recurrence of the illness she had contracted as a child, at a homeless shelter in Queens. Here in Staten Island, a doctor gave Chanel the Percocet, saying it would relieve her pain. After three weeks in the hospital, she was discharged with a prescription for OxyContin—120 pills per month. As Chanel got hooked on Oxy, she kept telling herself that a doctor had prescribed it. This was “medicine.” How could it be “unhealthy”?
