When ambitious attorney Claire Hewitt is asked to represent the Satoris, one of Philadelphia’s most prominent families, in a lawsuit over the death of their daughter, she is thrust into an opioid nightmare with deadly impact—and not for the first time. Claire’s guilt for not saving her sister, Molly, has not subsided in the twenty years since Molly’s almost certainly opioid-related death. Now, with this new assignment, her guilt comes full circle. Who was really at fault in Molly’s death? And who is at fault now?

What begins as a quest for truth becomes infinitely more complicated as Claire struggles to balance her desire for justice with the Satoris’ thirst for revenge. She knows she needs to expose the greed that transforms legal opioid production into illicit fabrications and the neglect that is the breaking point between physicians and their patients. But there are powerful people who will seemingly stop at nothing to prevent these truths from seeing the light of day, and she is sabotaged at every turn. Can she push past the obstacles in her way to build a winning case?

Based on true events, Side Effects Are Minimal is about a corrupt pharmaceutical industry, the guilt of physicians prescribing the opioids that kill, and the pain experienced by families who’ve lost loved ones to an epidemic that has brought the United States to its knees.

Laura Essay attended the University of Nebraska and obtained a law degree from Creighton University School of Law. When her three grown children moved on to graduate programs in other cities, writing became her passion. Side Effects Are Minimal is her debut novel. Her knowledge of the opioid crisis stems from her penchant for research and innumerable hours spent searching for the truth about opioids in America. She also has devoted a great deal of time to working with youth programs in her state, assisting the homeless, and setting up new homes for refugees relocating to Nebraska. In 2016, she launched a fundraiser that provided hundreds of car seats to infants in need and served as a court-appointed special advocate for foster children. In her leisure time, Laura enjoys cooking, music, running and travel. She lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with her husband and Australian shepherd, Riley.