Chapter 1: What are the main issues with the American pharmaceutical industry?
You're listening to Comedy Central. But see, this is where the real money is. The real money, the money our free market-ish system uses to prop up corporate profit at the expense of the taxpayer. Pharmaceutical companies get everything from our government. Tax breaks, research grants, patent extensions worth billions of dollars. And what do we the people get for it?
The highest drug prices in the Western Hemisphere. And for some reason, the possibility of an infection in our perineum. Why would you take a drug that would give you an infection in your perineum? And why are they telling us about it at dinnertime? But you know what's so horrible about our system now and the corruption that lays within it?
We're so numb to it, we actually tout tiny cracks in that exploitation as victory.
President touting the first-ever negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of 10 drugs. And today, I'm proud to announce that Medicare has reached agreement with all manufacturers on all 10 drugs selected in the first round of negotiations.
Oh, can it be? The companies we subsidize with billions of dollars are allowing us the privilege to negotiate the price of 10 of their drugs? And 10 is all of them, right? It would be embarrassing if it was a small drop in the bucket and that the American people didn't expect that we should negotiate for all their f***ing drugs because we've already paid for it with our subsidies! F***ing thanks!
Come on!
going to the hospitals. What we do with pharmaceutical companies is like the worst Shark Tank deal in history. Well, we're asking for billions of dollars of your money. Oh, what do we get, 10% of your company? No. Do we get a discount? No. What do we get? Have you checked your perineum? Opioid crisis.
Over the course of two decades, millions of Americans have become addicted to these painkillers. And after years of people demanding that someone be held accountable, the drug companies are finally starting to pay a price.
There is word tonight of a settlement involving thousands of lawsuits tied to the opioid crisis. Oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma has reached an agreement with 22 states and about 2,000 local governments over its role in the deadly epidemic. The company will pay up to $12 billion over time, with $3 billion coming from the Sackler family.
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Chapter 2: How did the Sackler family contribute to the opioid crisis?
All right? Yes. That's a funny joke. This medicine kills people. Do you still think it's a joke? Well, not that part. You got to learn how to get off on a high note. Fortune 500 companies behaving like drug cartels, it seemed hard to swallow. So I went to the heart of the oxytriangle to confront one of them face to face. I would like to speak to your Don. Or who?
Your Don, like the drug lord or whatever, your top guy, like your Pablo Escobar kind of. Goodbye. Turn that off. Turns out nobody on the inside would talk to me. Then I got lucky.
Behind the pole, Michael.
Who the you? I'm Dr. John Virapen. I used to be a pharmaceutical sales rep. Finally, a whistleblower emerged to tell me how these companies are allowed to continue to operate. They can buy anyone they want. The FDA, the government, the researchers. They get payoffs. Aren't you scared that they're gonna come after you? Why do you think I live in Sweden? Wait, what? You live in Sweden.
Probably hard for you to hide as a brown dude in Sweden.
This is one Indian they're not gonna get.
Great, so the only people who would talk to me are hiding in Sweden? This was starting to sound like a real conspiracy. Thankfully, former FDA associate commissioner Peter Pitt straightened everything out. I think pharmaceutical companies are extremely straightforward and honest about the benefits and the risks of their products.
Pete, I'm so glad that you can calm me down, man, because I was freaking out. So why do pharmaceutical companies have such a bad rep? Michael, statistics are like a bikini. What they show you is interesting, but what they conceal is essential. Vagina. They conceal the vagina.
Well, I think people who make these unsubstantiated claims need to visit their doctor and perhaps have their medication changed. And obviously no one's paying you to say that. No. Do we accept donations from pharmaceutical companies? We most certainly do. Oh, no.
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Chapter 3: What are the consequences of the opioid epidemic on society?
President Trump has revealed his long-awaited plan to combat the country's deadly opioid epidemic, and among the tougher measures proposed, giving drug traffickers the death penalty.
The ultimate penalty has to be the death penalty. Now, maybe our country's not ready for that. It's possible. It's possible. that our country's not ready for that. And I can understand it, maybe. Although personally, I can't understand that. You know... One of my favorite things about Trump is that he has inner monologues out loud. Yeah, it's like America elected Gollum as president.
We must have the death penalty. We can't have it. The country is not ready. We are ready. That's insane. At least... at least we know that even if no one runs against Trump in 2020, the debates are still gonna be great. It's just him and himself. And now, look, the truth is, I can see why Trump thinks killing drug dealers will solve the opioid crisis, right?
It's the same way he thought getting rid of Comey would make the whole Russia thing go away. But it turns out it's a lot more complicated, right? Today's epidemic is complicated in many ways, because, okay, fine, let's say you kill all the drug dealers, right? You know, the bad drug dealers, the bad man dealing drugs on the corner, right?
In this opioid crisis, that's hardly the only kind of person involved. So do you also kill doctors who overprescribe painkillers? Do you kill family members who buy opioids for their addicted loved ones? Do you kill the people who sell drugs to pay for their own addiction? Or do you... You know what? This is complicated. I guess just give everybody the death penalty. I understand it now.
I get it. And here's the thing. I'm not saying all of Trump's plans are bad. It's just that some of his drug-fighting ideas seem to come straight out of the 80s. Like this. This has been something that I've been very strongly in favor of.
spending a lot of money on great commercials showing how bad it is, so that kids seeing those commercials during the right shows on television or wherever, the Internet, when they see these commercials, they say, I don't want any part of it. That's the least expensive thing we can do, where you scare them from ending up like the people in the commercials.
And we'll make them very, very bad commercials. for Trump. He tried so hard to think of a different word. And then he just gave up. Very, very... bad commercials. Now look, again, I see why Trump thinks that this idea makes sense. I mean, if the president of the United States believes everything he sees on TV, then why wouldn't teenagers?
But don't forget, America has spent a lot of money on these ad campaigns before. All through the 80s and 90s, you couldn't watch TV without seeing one of these.
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