I get the impression America is uniquely vulnerable among the wealthiest nations. Private healthcare providers, a defanged health regulator, and rampant corporate bribery/advertising. Purdue salespeople lobbied doctors directly to prescribe their opioids to patients, while Purdue suppressed knowledge their incredibly addictive nature, and later offloaded blame to the addicts they largely created.

Here's a long overview of the Sackler family and their involvement in creating the opioid epidemic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-dptkIZ7tI