THE FAMILY MADE $35 BILLION –
July 28, 2023 – Court filings show that Purdue, owned by the Sackler family, earned more than $35 billion from the sales of OxyContin, which was approved by the FDA in 1995.
The limited Netflix series, which premieres on Aug. 10, is based on a book written by journalist Barry Meier, titled “Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic.” While working at the New York Times, Meier provided groundbreaking coverage of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family starting in the early 2000s as the opioid epidemic began.
STAT asked Meier about his seminal reporting as the epidemic emerged, the decades-long saga of Purdue Pharma and OxyContin, the upcoming Netflix show based on his book, and what viewers should take away from the show as it relates to the current state of the opioid epidemic. What is “Painkiller” about and what can people expect if they watch it?
It’s really about the origins of the opioid epidemic and why it happened. But because it’s a dramatic adaptation, it’s told through the experience of characters. It’s an ensemble of actors who are playing out threads of stories, narratives of stories, that weave together and provide you with what I think is an engrossing way of pulling you into the tale … I think people are going to find it a really exciting, interesting show.
