Netflix tip of the day: Painkillers
It must be said: Netflix has really been a true treat to open lately. Many new movies (even a Dutch thriller that is genuinely fun), new series (the new season of Black Mirror for example, which I was very happy about) and it seems like there are new fun additions online every week.
The miniseries Painkiller for example, starring Matthew Broderick (yes, the husband of Sarah Jessica Parker) and Uzo Aduba in the lead role. It only consists of six episodes, you really get through it at a breakneck pace. Not because the episodes are so short (between 40 and 50 minutes), but because you really don't want to turn it off.
Painkillers focuses on the opioid epidemic in the United States, which is still a major problem there. For decades, people have succumbed to their addiction to painkillers, which are also very easy to obtain. The main ‘culprit’ here is oxycodone/oxycodone, a painkiller that is often prescribed after severe pain and/or surgeries. In the Netherlands, doctors (thankfully) are very cautious about prescribing such addictive substances, but in America, it is much easier. Just like with almost every addiction: you want more of it and then have more than you need. Oxycontin is also a very popular product on the black market.
How dangerous are those painkillers? Extremely: it is estimated that more than 13 million American residents use oxycontin in the wrong way (so not just once as a painkiller). By now, we have also seen many celebs succumb to it: Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson, Prince, Anna Nicole Smith, and Elvis Presley all died at far too young an age; they were all addicted to painkillers.
The series Painkillers is a fictional series, but there are a few ‘real’ people in it. Dr. Curtis Wright for example, from the FDA — he was responsible for the approval of Purdue Pharma to sell oxycontin, which is also seen as the beginning of the end.
In short, a very current topic that you can talk about for a long time. However, you might as well just watch Painkillers, because it shows so well how incredibly grim the opioid epidemic has become and still is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24-YonhNS0Y
