Netflix’s new film Pain Hustlers, starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans, is a gripping and shocking drama that reveals the true story of a small pharmaceutical company that exploited the opioid crisis for profit. The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2023, and will be available on Netflix on October 27, 2023, is based on a 2018 New York Times Magazine article by Evan Hughes, who uncovered the scandalous practices of Insys Therapeutics, the maker of a fentanyl-based painkiller called Subsys. The film follows the rise and fall of Liza Drake (Blunt), a single mother who becomes a top sales rep for Zanna Therapeutics, a fictionalised version of Insys, and Pete Brenner (Evans), her charismatic mentor and lover, who teaches her how to sell the highly addictive and dangerous drug to unsuspecting doctors and patients. The film also features Andy Garcia as Jack Neel, the ruthless founder and CEO of Zanna, who stops at nothing to make his company a success, even if it means breaking the law and endangering lives.
The Real Story Behind Pain Hustlers
Pain Hustlers is inspired by the real-life events that took place at Insys Therapeutics, a company founded by billionaire John Kapoor in 1990. Insys developed Subsys, a sublingual spray that delivered fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, to cancer patients who suffered from severe breakthrough pain. Subsys was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2012, but only for a limited and specific use: for cancer patients who were already tolerant to other opioids. However, Insys soon realised that this market was too small and competitive, and decided to expand its sales to other types of pain, such as back pain, neck pain, and fibromyalgia. This was illegal, as it violated the FDA’s regulations and put patients at risk of overdose and addiction.
To achieve this, Insys devised a scheme that involved bribing doctors, nurses, and pharmacists to prescribe Subsys to patients who did not need it, and to increase the dosage and frequency of the prescriptions. Insys also hired attractive and persuasive sales reps, who were trained to use deceptive and aggressive tactics to convince doctors to join their “speaker program”, which was supposed to educate other prescribers about Subsys, but was actually a cover for paying them kickbacks. Insys also created a “reimbursement unit”, which was a team of employees who called insurance companies and pretended to be doctors or patients, and lied about the diagnosis and the medical history of the patients, to get Subsys approved and covered.
As a result of this scheme, Insys made millions of dollars in revenue, and Subsys became one of the most widely prescribed fentanyl products in the US. However, the human cost was devastating. Hundreds of patients died or suffered from serious side effects, such as respiratory depression, nausea, vomiting, and addiction. Many families and communities were torn apart by the opioid epidemic, which claimed more than 500,000 lives in the US between 1999 and 2019.
The Legal Consequences of Pain Hustlers
The illegal and unethical activities of Insys did not go unnoticed by the authorities. In 2015, the FBI raided the company’s headquarters in Arizona, and launched a criminal investigation into its practices. In 2016, several former Insys employees, including sales reps, managers, and doctors, were arrested and charged with various crimes, such as conspiracy, fraud, racketeering, and bribery. In 2017, Insys agreed to pay $150 million to settle a civil lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, which accused the company of violating the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute.
The most high-profile trial, however, was that of John Kapoor, the founder and former CEO of Insys, who was arrested in 2017 and indicted on six counts of racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Kapoor pleaded not guilty, and claimed that he was unaware of the illegal activities of his subordinates, and that he was only trying to help patients in pain. His trial began in January 2019, and lasted for 10 weeks, during which the jury heard testimonies from former Insys employees, doctors, patients, and experts, as well as audio and video recordings that showed the extent of the corruption and the harm caused by Subsys. In May 2019, Kapoor was found guilty on all counts, and became the first pharmaceutical executive to be convicted of a criminal charge related to the opioid crisis. In January 2020, he was sentenced to 66 months in prison, and ordered to pay $250,000 in fines and forfeit $3.7 million in assets.
The Impact of Pain Hustlers
Pain Hustlers is a film that aims to expose the dark side of the opioid industry, and to raise awareness and empathy for the victims of the crisis. The film is also a tribute to the journalists, whistleblowers, prosecutors, and activists who fought to bring justice and accountability to Insys and other companies that contributed to the epidemic. The film is not only a thrilling and shocking drama, but also a powerful and timely message that challenges the viewers to question the role and responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry, the medical profession, the government, and the society in addressing the opioid crisis.
Pain Hustlers is a film that you do not want to miss, if you are interested in a gripping and shocking drama that reveals the true story of a small pharmaceutical company that exploited the opioid crisis for profit. The film will be available on Netflix on October 27, 2023.
