El farmaceútico

My goodness, is this something... I was expecting something good seeing as it's a docuseries from Netflix and they always tend to make good ones, but this, this is a whole new level of good from Netflix.

I wouldn't really qualify it as eye opening to me because even being from Portugal, as a biochemist I've always been quite aware of the opioid problem in the US and I don't think this series could ever apply to anywhere else in the globe, but it sure showed me some new perspectives into it. The greed and lack of moral values, the arrogance of executives, it's just appalling... Imo, however, the most important part in here is that it shows law enforcement is way under-prepared for this kind of problems. All throughout the series we could see the inaction of law enforcement, either because the law itself was not properly put together for these situations or because they simply didn't know better. Some food for thought...

Anyway, the best part of the documentary is that it goes full circle, it doesn't leave you hanging for answers, and maybe in the future they can make a second part, as we're only now entering the real fight against big opioid pharma. My only real problem with it was the timeline in the first and second episodes, which could have been better, but other than that, very well done, thoroughly recommend. And a big salute to Dan Schneider, the man whose stubborn persistence even through despair led to all of this!

I really liked the main character in this series, the narrator of this story. Dan Schneider. Well... It's actually not one, but two connected stories: one of his sons death and one of the sequential mission work that followed. Such a unique and special guy and an overall interesting and fascinating story.

It took a few "false starts"- 2 years worth - for me to finally ease into this series. I admit that Dan is the type of person who makes me ill at ease: Loud and pushy.

Plus - If I ever found out that my pharmacist recorded me - well, use your imagination.

That said! I admire what he did. He saw a catastrophic wrong being done to his people and patients and he decided he was the one to fix the problem. That problem wasn't about to go away on her own. I can't comment on her. My mother said that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. I will say she did NOT reap what she sowed. (Dan liked bible stuff.) I would have preferred some serious Old Testament for her.

We obviously need more people like him - especially in the archaic slow moving government agencies. When he sees an obstruction, he rams right through it. And it still took years.

This NOT an easy watch - at all. But you'll learn a lot. And I think you'll come to like Dan. His family is very easy to like.

Thank goodness there are still good people in the world. Thanks, Dan.

This centers around one man, Dan Schneider, who goes out on a quest to find answers about his son's death after the son gets murdered during a failed drug deal. In the way the story starts, you could never guess how it all would unfold. Dan is an amazing storyteller, and to top it off he has also documented, filmed and recorded almost everything that has happened to him since the 80's. Because of how well documented this story is, and how much material they presented to me as a viewer, I felt that the story was as nuanced as it gets. They basically left no stone unturned.

From the son's murder to the investigation of the doctor, this documentary also makes you empathize greatly with Dan's frustrations over the different situations and systems he was dealing with. And even though I have read a lot about the opioid crisis and the Purdue cases etc, I feel like I got a very unique insight of the micro and macro causes and effects of the opioid crisis. I think that a documentary like this one can really make people start questioning how complicit the drug companies, but also more importantly - the authorities have been during this epidemic.

This is 10/10. Maybe you dont like the dad, or the length of the 4 episodes, or you think the show is sensationalizing the opioid crisis. Sadly, this is true. As a doctor, I have more insight and knowledge into this topic than most. How the rep talks is accurate, I've had it done to me. I've had addicted patients, I've had to report pill seeking behavior, this is real life people. Kudos to Neflix for sharing this story about reckless, immoral doctors and the big pharma industry.