Malcolm Gladwell

A couple thousand doctors in the whole country will be sufficient to get this thing rolling because those guys at the fringes will prescribe so many prescriptions of OxyContin, that's all we need. And so they take... A sales apparatus, which typically if you're a drug company, you build a sales apparatus to reach the broad middle of doctors.

And they just deployed it towards these kind of like whack job doctors who were way out of, you know, the norm in, you know, in small town Tennessee and visited them hundreds of times. Wined and dined them. Wined and dined them and convinced them to write thousands of prescriptions for OxyContin. That is the distillation of an epidemic strategy.

And they just deployed it towards these kind of like whack job doctors who were way out of, you know, the norm in, you know, in small town Tennessee and visited them hundreds of times. Wined and dined them. Wined and dined them and convinced them to write thousands of prescriptions for OxyContin. That is the distillation of an epidemic strategy.

And they just deployed it towards these kind of like whack job doctors who were way out of, you know, the norm in, you know, in small town Tennessee and visited them hundreds of times. Wined and dined them. Wined and dined them and convinced them to write thousands of prescriptions for OxyContin. That is the distillation of an epidemic strategy.

Yeah, and that's where they feasted on.

Yeah, and that's where they feasted on.

Yeah, and that's where they feasted on.

None of them went to jail. If you think about it, Sam Bankman Freed, who, I guess, committed a fraud and went, although very few of the people who he apparently defrauded actually lost money, he's in jail for how many years? Eight years? That's right. You can mislead rich people and you're in jail for eight years, but you can kill a couple hundred thousand Americans and you're fine.

None of them went to jail. If you think about it, Sam Bankman Freed, who, I guess, committed a fraud and went, although very few of the people who he apparently defrauded actually lost money, he's in jail for how many years? Eight years? That's right. You can mislead rich people and you're in jail for eight years, but you can kill a couple hundred thousand Americans and you're fine.

None of them went to jail. If you think about it, Sam Bankman Freed, who, I guess, committed a fraud and went, although very few of the people who he apparently defrauded actually lost money, he's in jail for how many years? Eight years? That's right. You can mislead rich people and you're in jail for eight years, but you can kill a couple hundred thousand Americans and you're fine.

I find that very curious. I don't really understand how. I mean, I realize it was a legal settlement and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But still, it's kind of shocking. It is shocking. And then you're talking about when they testified before Congress, they talked as if this whole epidemic had been started by someone else.

I find that very curious. I don't really understand how. I mean, I realize it was a legal settlement and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But still, it's kind of shocking. It is shocking. And then you're talking about when they testified before Congress, they talked as if this whole epidemic had been started by someone else.

I find that very curious. I don't really understand how. I mean, I realize it was a legal settlement and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But still, it's kind of shocking. It is shocking. And then you're talking about when they testified before Congress, they talked as if this whole epidemic had been started by someone else.

Or this company, Purdue Pharma, that their family had started and created and run for two generations was a kind of third party off by the side that they had no connection to. I mean, I just find the whole, everything about the opioid crisis is astonishing to me.

Or this company, Purdue Pharma, that their family had started and created and run for two generations was a kind of third party off by the side that they had no connection to. I mean, I just find the whole, everything about the opioid crisis is astonishing to me.

Or this company, Purdue Pharma, that their family had started and created and run for two generations was a kind of third party off by the side that they had no connection to. I mean, I just find the whole, everything about the opioid crisis is astonishing to me.

Yeah. One more welcome to the world of parenting. One more thing I have to worry about.

Yeah. One more welcome to the world of parenting. One more thing I have to worry about.

Yeah. One more welcome to the world of parenting. One more thing I have to worry about.

Oh no! Conan, you're just bringing us down. I know. What happened to your famous joie de vivre?