Sara Taylor, mother of former King County 911 dispatcher Angeline Burrell, describes her daughter's battle with disabling chronic pain and her overdose death from methadone. At left is Taylor's husband, Dale.

To cut costs, Washington steers Medicaid patients to a narcotic that costs less than a dollar a dose. The state insists methadone is safe. But hundreds die from it each year — and more than anyone else, it's the poor who pay the price.



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