The Crime of the Century Season 1 Episode 2 Part Two

The Crime of the Century season 1 episode 2 titled "Part Two" is the second part of this investigative documentary series that looks at the opioid epidemic in America. The episode delves deeper into how the pharmaceutical industry aggressively marketed and pushed the highly addictive and deadly painkiller OxyContin on doctors, patients, and the American public, despite knowing its dangers and potential for abuse.

The episode starts with the story of a woman named Cheryl Juaire, who lost her son Corey to an opioid overdose. Cheryl becomes a fierce advocate for reform and joins forces with other families who have lost loved ones to the opioid epidemic. In 2007, they attend a meeting with officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and demand action to make OxyContin safer. However, their pleas fall on deaf ears, and OxyContin continues to be prescribed and sold at alarming rates.

The episode also looks at the role of Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, in fueling the opioid epidemic. Interviews with former employees reveal the company's aggressive sales tactics, including incentivizing doctors to prescribe OxyContin, paying lobbyists and advocacy groups to push for less regulation, and even downplaying the addictive nature of the drug.

The episode also highlights the complicity of the medical community in the opioid epidemic. Doctors were heavily targeted by Purdue Pharma's marketing campaigns and often prescribed OxyContin to patients with little consideration of the potential for addiction and overdoses. The episode features interviews with doctors who express regret for their role in the epidemic and discuss the need for better education and guidelines on prescribing opioids.

The episode also touches on the efforts of law enforcement to combat the opioid epidemic, including cracking down on illegal drug trafficking and pill mills. However, the episode suggests that these efforts were often misguided and failed to target the root cause of the epidemic - the overprescription of opioids by doctors and the pharmaceutical industry.

Overall, "Part Two" of The Crime of the Century provides a powerful and sobering look at the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic on American families and communities. The episode highlights the failures of the FDA, the pharmaceutical industry, and the medical community to address the crisis, and underscores the urgent need for systemic change to prevent future tragedies.