>>I read that as the small minority is being scapegoated to protect the majority from scrutiny. Can't be that 11 doctors have caused the whole thing.

I read that both pharma executives and prosecutors scrutinized prescribing patterns and concluded that the opioid prescription market is dominated by a small number of prescribers. In 2018, physicians can't escape scrutiny of their prescribing patterns at all, let alone by scapegoating others as you say you read in the article.

As for "the whole thing" not being caused by 11 physicians: I assume you refer to the opioid death rate in the US? If so, then science says that in 2018 it's illicit fentanyl and heroin, not opioid prescribing fueling the issue. Opioid prescription has been in sharp decline- so much so that as the pendulum swings, endstage cancer sufferers and other chronic pain patients sometimes now report they can't access the opoids they need. In my day we said that there's no excuse for pain when you're dying of cancer; it seems that's no longer true if physicians are afraid to be identified as an outlier.