Painkiller

[WilkinsonM]

Anyone watching? It's really good. About the OxyContin scandal in the states. Uzo Aduba is excellent.

it is licensed here....

Meanwhile because of these manufacturers and “addicts ‘ genuine chronic pain victims are having their painkillers stopped and being left on the scrap heap.

@Endeavormorse I did not know that. What is the name of it here?

I had thought they couldn't get a licence in the EU.

I think I have been lucky when prescribed strong opioid painkillers because I don't like them. I feel drunk and hungover at the same time. And it doesn't really help with the pain. I was once given prescription for something that had street value and the doctor told me to be careful filling the prescription. Can't remember what it was.

I am currently experiencing pain (not as bad as before) and doc has not prescribed anything. I did ask him if he thought acupuncture was useful. He probably got the sense I don't like painkillers.

Apparently yep. It's called OxyContin and is licensed as a controlled drug in the U.K.

I didn't know that until last night!

I think it’s on the NHS info website as something like Oxycodone. I was shocked to discover this

I imagine it's now saved for the worst type of pain in strictly controlled circumstances. I could be wrong.

Haven't rtft because I have 2 episodes left to get through.

If you liked this, Barbara Kingsolvers latest novel, is about this. Demon Copperhead. Also based on David Cooper field.

I wanted to watch Dopesick, but can't seem to find it.

He was hallucinating his father ? Being there and talking to him, at one point beating him up. The smoke detector beep was in his head I think as it continued when he moved to a different house.

Yes I think the beep was in his head

I'm a nurse oxycodone is used in a similar way to morphine, for severe pain and I've only seen it used in end of life/palliative care.

That said I was given pethidine when I had severe pain from gallstones. I really liked the feeling of warmth that came over me, it was like slipping into a warm bath.

I can see how it can be become addictive.

I didn't like this. It's a serious subject and I felt the comical aspects really don't do it justice. Also the scenes where Richard Sackler is communicating with his dead uncle are ridiculous, trying to make out he was mentally ill somehow is really insulting to those directly harmed by the Sackler Family's greed. I don't like Uzo Adube either, she can't seem to drop the "Crazy Eyes" persona when she's acting. The only storyline I enjoyed was the mechanic played by Taylor Kitsch, I think the acting was incredible and gave great insight into the situation of the ordinary people who were affected by the opioid epidemic.

The show didn't have a patch on "Dopesick", that was a masterpiece.

Dopesick is a much better drama but the more people who know about the sucklers/ opioids the better.

There are plenty of codeine addicts in the uk going under the radar buying OTC painkillers.

@MollyRover I think I might agree. Not sure what you mean about crazy eyes though. I thought she was good but your point about sackler is well made.

Agree about codeine addiction. I took some OTC codeine painkillers recently and it was like drinking three glasses of wine but for me not in a nice way. I can totally imagine people liking the feeling and taking more. I do think pain is not something we fully understand which can be exploited.

This was good, I don’t always finish a whole series on Netflix but watched this over a few days.
The mechanic was heart breaking as were each of the families at the start of each episode. I have never touched drugs as I have a feeling I’d like them and am careful with painkillers etc.

@Jewel1968 it's her character from Orange is the new black, a bit poetry club for me to be honest. Mixing up narration with monologuing. I don't think she can do anything else.

Agree, painkiller wasn't a patch on Dopesick

Watching this now. Thinking it should have been a 2 hour film rather than such a long series. There's too much filler, I like things to cut to the chase.

Dopesick was far better. Painkiller director was trying to be too clever with smoke detector beeping, dancing montages, dead uncles advising Richard Sackler etc..
Brilliant when it just told the story via Glenn's downward spiral and real life stories at start of each episode.
Dopesick is on Disney+

I thought Oxycodone and OxyContin were different. Wasn't that the whole point?

I thought it was terrible. If you want to see a good show about OxyContin watch Dope sick. So much better.

I started to watch Dopesick but it didn't grab me. We've binged Painkiller. Thought it was brilliant.

It's also very personal for me as my brother is addicted to opiates such as codeine. Very much like the main character in Painkiller, he is a normal person with a professional job and a family. He's been buying codeine off the Internet and spending as much as 40 pounds a day.

This has really given me an insight into what his life must be like. I didn't really view it the same as a heroin addiction before but it actually very much is. Thankfully he's lost his driving licence so he's only hurting himself.

Agree, I watched Dopesck first and gave up half way on painkiller - it was good but it wasn’t great. But I did go on to read the book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth Macy and it is truly horrific!

I had no appreciation for just how addictive these synthetic opioids are and the worse thing is it was very, very well know what these compounds do in terms of brain chemistry and how, by with making Oxy more difficult to get and restricting it, many addicts are now on heroin - it’s really really sad.

Agree with others, watched Painkiller first and loved it so went on to watch Dopesick - far better and goes into much more detail. I didn't know much about the crisis and the roots of it - it's truly shocking. I've also bought the Beth Macy book - haven't started it yet.