(ANSA) - ROME, 07 NOV - Boards of directors in which it is thought only to increase the dosage of the pills to cash in more; family doctors in good and bad faith, convinced that they are doing the good of their patients or 'enrolled' with gifts and congresses in large hotels; a sea of patients of all ages (including adolescents) suffering from different types of chronic and non-chronic pain, who find themselves fighting addiction, and federal agents faced with the difficulty of countering the diffusion of a 'drug' available in pharmacies by prescription.
They are among the pieces of the puzzle composed of Dopesick - Declaration of Addiction, the drama series of the two-time Emmy Danny Strong award (Empire, Recount, Game Change) with MichaelKeaton (also co-executive producer), Peter Sarsgaard, MichaelStuhlbarg, Will Poulter, Kaitlyn Dever and Rosario Dawson who explores the birth of the opioid drug epidemic in the US, causing about 600,000 victims since the late 1990s.
The eight-part story, debuting on November 12, on the occasion of Disney + Day, on the streaming platform, is taken from Beth Macy Dopesick's bestselling investigation book: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America. The focus is on the role played in what has become a national emergency by one of the large US pharmaceutical companies, Purdue Pharma of the multi-million dollar Sackler family, which in 1996 decided to spread the opioid Oxycontin (oxycodone) on the market. a very aggressive marketing campaign in which it was claimed that it was a 'drug miracle' for the duration of efficacy and the minimal risk of causing addiction compared to other opioids. Affirmations then dramatically disproved by the facts, including an exponential increase in a few years of overdose,violent crimes, destroyed families, prostitution of minors and children in foster care.
The series mixes the social framework with personal stories, often drawn from or inspired by real characters.
By Richard Sacklera Samuel Finnix (Keaton), a doctor in a Pennsylvania mining town.
Among his patients is young Betsy (Kaitlyn Dever), who begins to lose everything due to oxycodone.
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