Topic: Opioid Epidemic

The hosts discuss the Netflix series "Painkiller" and the previous show "Dopesick," characterizing them as efforts to whitewash the broader pharmaceutical industry by focusing all blame on the Sackler family. They argue that while the Sacklers were responsible for the opioid crisis, other major companies like Johnson & Johnson have paid significantly larger fines for similar malfeasance that receives less media dramatization.

A donor shares a personal story of loss due to the opioid epidemic while requesting "relationship karma" and "project car karma" for a Honda Beat. The segment also mentions political graffiti and "The Outrage" store in Washington D.C.

Purdue Pharma announced it will stop promoting OxyContin to doctors following a wave of lawsuits from states and municipalities over the opioid epidemic. The Sackler family, owners of the private company, have amassed an estimated $35 billion to $40 billion in sales since the drug's release in 1996. Critics view the cessation of marketing as a PR move to soften public sentiment as the company faces allegations of duping the public about the drug's addictive nature.

The hosts analyze the political fallout of the *60 Minutes* report, which led to Tom Marino withdrawing his name for the "Drug Czar" position. They suggest the story was a coordinated "hit job" by the CIA-linked media to embarrass the Trump administration. They highlight a "kicker" at the end of the report revealing that the DEA actually dropped its opposition to the bill they are now complaining about.

The opioid crisis is discussed in the context of the book "Dreamland," detailing the history of pill mills and pharmaceutical marketing. A theory is proposed that President Trump could cripple mainstream media by banning direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, which accounted for over $5 billion in television spending in 2016 for drugs like Humira and Jublia.

Commentary on MSNBC highlighted the perceived racial disparity in the government's response to the opioid crisis compared to the 1990s crack epidemic. Critics argue that because the current crisis affects more white Americans, it is being treated as a public health tragedy rather than a criminal issue. The discussion also points to the pharmaceutical industry as the primary "bad actor" responsible for the crisis.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has issued warnings regarding Acryl Fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid that is reportedly resistant to the overdose-reversal drug Narcan. The drug has been linked to dozens of deaths in Illinois and Georgia, prompting calls for stricter regulations on online chemical sales.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is equipping 3,000 deputies with Naloxone, branded as Narcan, to combat the opioid epidemic. Concerns are raised that the aggressive marketing and over-the-counter availability of nasal spray Narcan may inadvertently propagate heroin use by removing the fear of overdose. Adapt Pharma is identified as the manufacturer benefiting from the unrelenting media promotion of the product.

The origins of the opioid epidemic are traced back to a 1980 letter in the New England Journal of Medicine and a subsequent federal law that established pain as the "fifth vital sign." A listener shares an anecdote about nurses aggressively pushing opioids after a C-section due to hospital incentives tied to federal funding.