Crime of the Century

[DanaK]

 

Quote

This two-part documentary directed by Emmy(R) and Academy Award(R) winner Alex Gibney (HBO's "The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley," "Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief"), is a searing indictment of Big Pharma and the political operatives and government regulations that enable over-production, reckless distribution and abuse of synthetic opiates. Exploring the origins, extent and fallout of one of the most devastating public health tragedies of our time, with half a million deaths from overdoses this century alone, the film reveals that America's opioid epidemic is not a public health crisis that came out of nowhere.

Premieres May 10 at 9-11pm ET and Part 2 will be broadcast on May 11 at 9-11pm ET

 

Edited April 24, 2021 by DanaK

[Tachi Rocinante]

Just finished Part One.  Everybody should watch this. It is truly staggering what went on at Purdue and in Washington.

[EtheltoTillie]

I'm glad someone started a topic.  I was going to do so.  This is a fascinating documentary.  I think the most interesting part was the coopting of the sales people and the payments to doctors for making speeches.  Also the corrupt FDA employee.  I could go on.

[Tachi Rocinante]

Finished part 2. 

For those of you unaware, the pharma lobby in Washington is as big or bigger than the gun lobby, and this part showed why.  That DEA turncoat should be ashamed.

[DanaK]

I still have to watch this, but I remember being thrilled when Oxy was introduced and how much of a miracle it seemed to be for those folks with hard to fix pain, but for some reason, when it had its downfall, I took a really long time understanding that it wasn't the miracle it was purported to be and was really bad stuff. I guess I got wrapped up in the relentless pharma promotion of it all and just didn't pay enough attention to the problems until recently

[heatherchandler]

47 minutes ago, DanaK said:

I still have to watch this, but I remember being thrilled when Oxy was introduced and how much of a miracle it seemed to be for those folks with hard to fix pain, but for some reason, when it had its downfall, I took a really long time understanding that it wasn't the miracle it was purported to be and was really bad stuff. I guess I got wrapped up in the relentless pharma promotion of it all and just didn't pay enough attention to the problems until recently

Yes but also I believe that it actually IS a miracle drug for some people.  There are so many people who are in serious chronic pain and this drug works.  The way it was marketed and pushed is obviously horrible and criminal, but I hate that there are people who will not get true pain relief because of the stigma, etc.  I know that there are other medications that can help chronic pain patients but this did actually help some people, hopefully they can get help from the other medications.

 

[DanaK]

16 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

Yes but also I believe that it actually IS a miracle drug for some people.  There are so many people who are in serious chronic pain and this drug works.  The way it was marketed and pushed is obviously horrible and criminal, but I hate that there are people who will not get true pain relief because of the stigma, etc.  I know that there are other medications that can help chronic pain patients but this did actually help some people, hopefully they can get help from the other medications.

 

The opioid crisis and scandal has certainly made it harder for people in serious pain to get the relief they need. Just one of many fallouts from this scandal

[kathe5133]

Oxy was a godsend when it first came out.  I had a good friend who was terminally ill and it improved his quality of life immeasurably.  I remember though, shortly after this hit the market it became difficult to get.  Folks quickly found out that they could crush and snort it and get their heroin like high.  Pharmacies were robbed all of the time and eventually you had to notify the pharmacy and wait a day for the shipment to come in as the pharmacies would not longer keep it in stock due to all the robberies.  I was encouraged to pull the labels off of the vials and destroy them as people were going through the trash and breaking into any homes that had thrown out empty oxy bottles.  I realize that some became addicted from Doctor's prescriptions, but my memory is it was abused by addicts and drug pushers from the get go.  I realize addiction is an illness, but............  It's frustrating that those with serious pain can't get the relief they need because a.  folks got to do their crime, and b.  Unscrupulous Doctors and pharmacies break the rules for profit!  I don't think the Sacklers are the only ones to blame.  There's plenty of folks that have had their hands in this pot!

 

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by kathe5133

[Tachi Rocinante]

It was commonplace for dentists and oral surgeons to write 14-20 day oxy scripts for teenagers who had their wisdom teeth pulled:

Ouch

[snickers]

I watched this when it came out, i thought it was really good/informative, but i thought it was too long, instead of two parts, i think they should have made it four parts at 45 minutes.....it was hard for me to keep my attention cause i was watching late at night and kept falling asleep, so i had to do a re-watch and start earlier in the evening....

 

I remember the days of the oxy craziness.....remember how Rush Limbaugh was addicted to it?

 

I have my own oxy story to tell....when i was younger, i was going through some significant health issues at the time, had undergone a lot of surgeries....so i was familiar with pain and pain meds, Vicaden (spelling?), used a morphine drip (which sucks by the way and did nothing for me-it kept timing out because I kept hitting it)....and I never once developed any dependence on any of the drugs i had taken

 

however, the last surgery i had during this time of my life, the hospital and doctor i was going to, had a new pain regiment approved....so....for my last surgery, i was given an epidural (which i've never given birth but it was AMAZING, i would opt for one hands down if i was having a child) and the week i was in the hospital during this recovery period, i was given oxycontin twice a day,  at 8 am and at 8 pm

 

let me tell you....i was developing a dependence to it and quick....five minutes before 8 i would sit on the bed with my hand out ready for my pill from the nurse....it was SCARY....but i had NO PAIN...none!!!! it was a miracle, the morphine drip that did NOTHING for me couldn't hold a candle to this....

 

it was the easiest surgery i ever had to recover from....my last day in the hospital, i know what the answer would be to this question and i knew i shouldn't be asking it, but i found myself asking my doctor if he would write me a prescription for oxycontin to take home and the response was a laugh with a quick "Nope!"

 

I knew he wasn't going to do it, because he was an excellent doctor, plus this was in 2004 right after it all blew up, but i often wonder, had i gotten a script in my hands to take to a pharmacy, would i have gone down the path of some of those people? Like i said, as someone who is used to pain and has taken other drugs people developed dependencies to, i used to think "would never happen to me" until i took oxy....

 

It is amazing and scary what they can do with synthetic drugs these days...and i had a 80 tablet i think,  it was a small white pill i remember that, imagine a 160!

 

Edited June 3, 2021 by snickers

[DanaK]

I’ve watched the first 30 minutes so far, and already it’s pretty shocking. The history of civilization’s use and abuse of opioids is eye opening put all together like that and given that, the current opioid crisis shouldn’t be a surprise. How the Sackler family is not in the deepest darkest prison given the crap they’ve pulled throughout their lives is beyond me. The nonsense they pulled getting Oxy approved by the FDA using an active FDA official to help write the application is just beyond awful. Again, they should all be in jail and all personally bankrupted, not just a big fine that lets them move on to other companies

[larapu2000]

The Sackler family all deserves to be in prison, but so does that LifeTree doctor.  That woman's husband and the pictures he took of his poor wife to convince her there was a problem broke my heart.  I don't understand how that doctor was able to get her back into his care once the husband had gotten her off of the opoids.

My mother passed away last year from metastatic breast cancer, but at the end she was on Fentanyl patches (constant) and oxycodone (as needed-and she did take those more sparingly).  We were worried that she was addicted (I think she might have been), but her oncologist that was managing her brain treatments looked us in the eye and said "So?  We need to treat the cancer and the pain first, and if she's still with us, we will treat the addiction then."  It made sense, but I also sometimes wonder how much those drugs might have contributed to a shorter life span than we might have had with her.  Fentanyl also might have given her the best quality of life in her last months, too, so who knows?  The fact that these asshole executives have poisoned every part of the check and balance system is absolutely awful, especially for patients in pain like my mom.

When I had a minor surgery, they gave me oxycodone to take as needed, and I made a concerted effort to suck it up and endure a little pain in order to take as little as I could.  I mainly used it for sleep only after the first 2 days.  I was terrified of the addiction possibility.  

 

[Hanahope]

they really need to pass a law that government employees cannot work in the same field they were supposedly regulating.  that FDA guy who wrote the Oxy insert that they "believed" there was no addiction, i mean really?  and the attorney who got the law passed that allowed drugs to keep getting sold, no more immediate stops?  i can't believe these congresspeople couldn't read and figure out 3 whole pages!  and yet they love to write these hundred page bills and expect people to understand them.  

i guess i should be lucky that i've never had a doctor prescribe strong opiates for me.

[ifionlyknew]

Having watched Dopesick over the weekend I discovered this.  Even though I knew the story it is still horrific watching it.  So many people should be in jail.  I will never look at Chris Dodd ever again as anything but a horrible person who only cared about his campaign coffers.