Have you watched Pain Hustlers on Netflix? It’s based on the story of Insys Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company that played a big part in the U.S. opioid crisis. The company’s product was a fentanyl spray to treat severe pain that could have helped a small number of critically ill patients. Instead, it spread suffering among people who never should have gotten a prescription. The marketers who pushed it paid a price…but was it high enough?
What Counts as a Win?
Four out of five heroin users in the U.S. began by misusing prescription drugs like the one made by Insys. The government has not had much success in holding manufacturers (especially individual executives) accountable for the crisis. The Insys case was a rare exception—but who really won? Most of the company’s former wealth went to law firms, not victims of the company. And the fentanyl spray remains on the market.
