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Painkiller
Netflix’s new explosive series Painkiller tackles the origin of OxyContin and its role in the opioid epidemic in the United States – which executive producer, Eric Newman, knows quite a lot about, given his previous work on Narcos and Narcos: Mexico.
In an interview provided by Netflix, recorded in 2022 and early 2023, prior to the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, Newman commented on whether he was “shocked” by any of his findings during his search for the new series.
“Nothing shocks me anymore when greed, drugs, and money all come together. It’s certainly an area of interest in which I’ve spent a lot of time with the Narcos franchise,” Newman said.
He continued, “It’s always been a subject that has been confusing and terrifying, and yet ultimately understandable when you look at the conditions, and the people, that allow these things to happen.”
The producer partially walked back his comments, explaining that he wasn’t “necessarily” surprised but felt shocked by the “inability and unwillingness for people at the top to take responsibility.”
Painkiller explores the rise of OxyContin and the tragic events which followed, and takes a keen focus on Richard Sackler, the real-life chairman and president of Purdue Pharma, the company behind the drug, portrayed by Matthew Broderick in the series. The show also follows a family who is dealing with the consequences of drug abuse, the salespeople tasked with getting OxyContin into medical offices, and an investigative team looking to hold the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma accountable for their role in the multitude of deaths caused by misuse of the narcotic.
As revealed in the finale of the series, it has been estimated that over 300,000 people have died over the past two decades from overdoses involving prescription painkillers like OxyContin, and no member of the Sackler family has been criminally charged in the mishandling of the drug.
Newman is unnerved by the fact, saying in the same interview, “The fact that people look back now and claim they didn’t see it happening is incredible to me, and unconscionable.”
Painkiller is currently streaming on Netflix.
