Painkiller | |
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Created by | |
Based on |
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Directed by | Peter Berg |
Starring | |
Composer | Matt Morton [1] |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Chris Hatcher |
Editors | |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Netflix |
Release | August 10, 2023 |
Painkiller is an American drama television miniseries created by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. [4] Based on Patrick Radden Keefe's New Yorker article "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain" and Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier, [5] the series focuses on the birth of the opioid crisis, with an emphasis on Purdue Pharma, the company owned by Richard Sackler and his family that was the manufacturer of OxyContin. [6] The Sackler family has been described as the "most evil family in America", [7] [8] [9] [10] and "the worst drug dealers in history". [11] [12]
Painkiller premiered on Netflix on August 10, 2023. [13]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
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1 | "The One to Start With, The One to Stay With" | Peter Berg | Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster | August 10, 2023 | |
A physician prescribes OxyContin to one of his patients, who has unmanageable pain. He informs the patient that the effects of OxyContin last longer than the Vicodin the patient was taking, and as a result, they won't have to take OxyContin as frequently. He also mentions that it causes the same side effects as other opioids, particularly constipation. Richard Sackler is vilified over the prescription of OxyContin to patients who need to manage pain and to drug addicts. | |||||
2 | "Jesus Gave Me Water" | Peter Berg | Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster | August 10, 2023 | |
Arthur Sackler, Richard's uncle, is accused of wanting to sell OxyContin to as many people as possible to increase profits for his company, Purdue Pharma. Providers offer physicians coupons to distribute the Schedule 2 narcotic. A doctor tells Shannon Schaeffer, a vendor, that "Oxycodone, that's what's in OxyContin. Morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, diacetylmorphine, that's heroin. All come from the opium poppy". Curtis Wright IV drags out approval at the FDA. | |||||
3 | "Blizzard of the Century" | Peter Berg | Will Hettinger and Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster | August 10, 2023 | |
John L. Brownlee reviews the legal case against Purdue Pharma. Schaeffer's mentor reminds her, "They're drug addicts. They existed long before OxyContin, and they'll exist long after OxyContin". A prisoner reminisces about the 1990s crack epidemic in the United States. OxyContin addicts are becoming unemployed, committing robberies, auto thefts, filing for disability, and so on. | |||||
4 | "Is Believed" | Peter Berg | Boo Killebrew & Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster | August 10, 2023 | |
After the death of a young woman, Shannon Schaeffer tells a prescribing physician that "She [the woman's mother] can't look at herself and say, 'I messed up. My daughter was a druggie'. She needs to blame someone". Purdue advertisements claim that less than 1% of users develop an addiction to OxyContin, which is contradicted by statistics. | |||||
5 | "Hot! Hot! Hot!" | Peter Berg | Boo Killebrew & Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster | August 10, 2023 | |
The public and media notice and start applying pressure on Purdue Pharma. Glenn spirals downward with increasing doses of OxyContin, eventually turning to the black market, with dire consequences. Shannon sees deeper into the workings at Purdue and becomes disillusioned. Edie convinces her boss that OxyContin is a public health problem, and together, they come up with a strategy to go after the company. | |||||
6 | "What's in a Name?" | Peter Berg | Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster | August 10, 2023 | |
Richard Sackler warns the corporate officers of Purdue Pharma that, "They will dismantle everything we've built—brick by brick". |
Production began in Toronto in April 2021 and wrapped in November 2021. The series was directed by Peter Berg. [16]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 51% of 53 critics gave the series a positive review, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Painkiller honors the victims of the opioid crisis with effective dramatic beats but is undermined by its stale satirical flourishes, resulting in a tonally confused bit of muckraking." [17] On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [18]
Writing for American Council on Science and Health, a pro-industry group, Cameron English criticized the series, alleging that it unfairly pins the blame for the opioid crisis on Purdue and the Sackler family. [19]
Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin, is a semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and is a commonly abused drug. It is usually taken by mouth, and is available in immediate-release and controlled-release formulations. Onset of pain relief typically begins within fifteen minutes and lasts for up to six hours with the immediate-release formulation. In the United Kingdom, it is available by injection. Combination products are also available with paracetamol (acetaminophen), ibuprofen, naloxone, naltrexone, and aspirin.
Arthur Mitchell Sackler was an American psychiatrist and marketer of pharmaceuticals whose fortune originated in medical advertising and trade publications. He was also an art collector. He was one of the three patriarchs of the controversial Sackler family pharmaceutical dynasty.
The Faculty of Medicine is a medical school affiliated with Tel Aviv University, located in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Purdue Pharma L.P., formerly the Purdue Frederick Company (1892–2019), was an American privately held pharmaceutical company founded by John Purdue Gray. It was sold to Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler in 1952, and then owned principally by the Sackler family and their descendants.
Raymond Sackler was an American physician and businessman. He acquired Purdue Pharma together with his brothers Arthur M. Sackler and Mortimer Sackler. Purdue Pharma is the developer of OxyContin, the drug at the center of the opioid epidemic in the United States.
Mortimer David Sackler was an American-born psychiatrist and entrepreneur who was a co-owner, with his brothers Arthur and Raymond, of Purdue Pharma. During his lifetime, Sackler's philanthropy included donations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate Gallery, the Royal College of Art, the Louvre and Berlin's Jewish Museum.
Uzoamaka Nwanneka "Uzo" Aduba is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2014, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2015, and two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series in 2014 and 2015. She is one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role.
Richard Stephen Sackler is an American billionaire businessman and physician who was the chairman and president of Purdue Pharma, a former company best known as the developer of OxyContin, whose connection to the opioid epidemic in the United States was the subject of multiple lawsuits and fines, and that filed for bankruptcy in 2019. It has been claimed that Richard Sackler's Purdue is among ”the worst drug dealers in history” and the Sackler family have been described as the "most evil family in America". The company's downfall was the subject of the 2021 Hulu series Dopesick and the 2023 Netflix series Painkiller.
Noah Harpster is an American actor, writer, producer and director.
Massachusetts v. Purdue is a lawsuit filed on August 14, 2018, suing the Stamford, Connecticut-based company Purdue Pharma LP, which created and manufactures OxyContin, "one of the most widely used and prescribed opioid drugs on the market", and Purdue's owners, the Sacklers accusing them of "widespread fraud and deception in the marketing of opioids, and contributing to the opioid crisis, the nationwide epidemic that has killed thousands." Purdue denied the allegations.
The Sackler family is an American family who owned the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and later founded Mundipharma. Purdue Pharma, and some members of the family, have faced lawsuits regarding overprescription of addictive pharmaceutical drugs, including OxyContin. Purdue Pharma has been criticized for its role in the opioid epidemic in the United States. They have been described as the "most evil family in America", and "the worst drug dealers in history".
The timeline of the opioid epidemic includes selected events related to the origins of Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, the development and marketing of oxycodone, selected FDA activities related to the abuse and misuse of opioids, the recognition of the opioid epidemic, the social impact of the crisis, lawsuits against Purdue and the Sackler family.
Dopesick is an American drama television miniseries, created by Danny Strong for Hulu. Based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy, it premiered on October 13, 2021, and concluded on November 17, 2021, after eight episodes.
The Crime of the Century is an American two-part documentary film, directed, produced, and written by Alex Gibney. The film follows the opioid epidemic in the United States, and the political operatives, government regulations and corporations that enable the abuse of opioids, particularly the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma.
Joss Sackler is a fashion designer. She is also known for her marriage to David Sackler, whose father Richard Sackler was the chairman and president of Purdue Pharma, and oversaw its manufacturing of the highly addictive opioid Oxycontin, a leading drug in the opioid epidemic.
Curtis Wright IV is an American former government official known for his role in the Food and Drug Administration's approval of OxyContin for Purdue Pharma in 1995, followed by his subsequent employment by the company, which led to portrayals in films and reports in nonfiction books, magazines, and news media outlets of his alleged role as one of the key figures in the current opioid epidemic in the United States. Wright was implicated in a criminal conspiracy outlined in a 2006 United States Department of Justice review document that was first made public in Purdue Pharma's 2019 bankruptcy proceedings. Although that case was settled in a 2007 plea agreement deal, members of United States Congress have requested the full 2006 documentation from the Department of Justice with the goal of opening a new case based upon the evidence then gathered. Parts of Wright's sworn depositions in 2003 and 2018 have internal contradictions and differ from documentary evidence described the 2003–2006 U.S. Federal Government investigation into Purdue Pharma.
Micah Fitzerman-Blue is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He is best known for his work on Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Painkiller.
Madelaine West Duchovny is an American actress. She is best known for the film A Mouthful of Air, the SyFy series The Magicians, the Netflix series Painkiller., and the Hulu series Saint X.
Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P.,, is a pending United States Supreme Court case regarding Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. This case is about the settlement by Purdue Pharmaceutical for Opioid victims who overdosed with the OxyContin drug produced by their company.