“Dopesick”: The debunked American “magic drug”, Oxycontin

“Dopesick”, an 8-episode limited series recently launched by Hulu.

“Dopesick” tells the story of the worst drug epidemic in American history and the biggest medical scandal of this century.

The protagonist is Oxycontin, which is known as “village heroin”.

Oxycontin, it was once the best-selling pain reliever on the market. It is used to relieve moderate to severe pain and is produced by Purdue Pharma.

Purdue Pharma is a family-owned company.

Related Post: “Dopesick”: Finally another high-scoring American drama was born.

In 1981, Purdue Pharma successfully developed an oral long-acting sustained-release morphine that could replace intravenous drip, named MS Contin.

MS Contin can be used to treat pain in cancer patients.

MS Contin was first marketed in the UK and then popular in the US, and quickly became the gold standard for oral analgesics for cancer patients.

However, the MS Contin patent expires soon.

To continue to occupy a large area in the food and drug industry, Purdue Pharma needs to develop follow-up products that are as successful as MS Contin.

This time, Purdue Pharma has turned its attention to another area-non-cancer chronic pain.

After research and development, they launched a new drug-Oxycontin.

At that time, the medical profession was also setting off a new era that emphasized pain.

Pain is the fifth vital sign of human beings. Relieving pain is also the basic right of patients.

The medical community generally calls for attention and expansion of research on pain treatment.

Purdue Pharma’s new drug Oxycontin also came into being. And it carries a height and aura that other similar products can’t match.

First of all, selling point 1, Oxycontin is a long-acting medicine that only needs to be taken twice a day, and there is no pain for 24 hours.

Selling point 2, low addiction, less than 1% of people will be addicted to Oxycontin.

And on this point, the US Food and Drug Administration FDA also endorsed it and approved a special label for it.

It reads this sentence: The delayed absorption of Oxycontin tablets is believed to reduce the possibility of drug abuse.

The Sackler family behind Purdue Pharma has also launched a crazy marketing campaign for Oxycontin.

Pharmaceutical sales representatives almost communicated with doctors on a one-to-one basis, as well as one-month trial dosages and overwhelming TV commercials, which quickly became popular.

But the result?

Prisons are suddenly overcrowded, violent crimes are rampant, the number of abandoned children is increasing, underage girls’ prostitution is increasing, and child abuse cases are frequent.

Less than three years after listing, Oxycontin became a source of evil in the entire region.

This is a huge scam carefully designed by Purdue Pharma.

“Dopesick” restored the ins and outs of the incident for the audience, using the most solemn and coldest way.

In the last shot, the miners were working in the dark and cramped shaft with soot faces, and the young girl accidentally injured her back.

The next shot is the Sackler family in the magnificent hall, drinking champagne and arguing about the production of the new drug Oxycontin.

The contrast of the picture is so strong that it is too strong for people to look directly at it.

Those beautiful, high-class, and precious artworks repeatedly appear in the audience’s field of vision from various angles.

That’s something the workers can never reach, but they pay for it.

Their blood, sweat and tears eventually created the myth of the Sackler family’s wealth creation.

“Dopesick” is of high quality. It is not a god but it is excellent enough to watch.