The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Alex Gibney on "The Crime of the Century"

Episode Date: May 10, 2021

Director Alex Gibney discusses "The Crime of the Century," his two-part documentary about the deadly opioid epidemic and the drug companies responsible for perpetuating it. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. Alex Gibney, welcome to the

Daily Social Distancing Show. Thanks, Trevor. The last time you were on our show was in 2018 and you were on with, it was your documentary Dirty Money. Now you are back with another documentary about a topic that I can't even explain to you how infuriating it makes me as a person, because A, of what was done to people, B, of what the ramifications have been, and C, why it feels like almost nothing is going to happen in the way of justice. And that is all about the opioid epidemic. Tell me a little bit about your documentary.

It's a two-part doc for four hours called the crime of the century. And the reason I called it the crime of the century and the reason I was interested in doing it was it seemed like the opioid crisis was being presented to us almost like a natural disaster, like a hurricane or a flood, as if it just happened. But upon an examination, it seems clear that it was manufactured, manufactured by a number of key corporations, and so there's a crime there, and therefore there are people to be held to account, and therefore there are things that were done wrong that hopefully set right. And what's really interesting in this story, I didn't know some of these parts was how these drug companies, Purdue in

particular, said you know what, we're going to make sure we get these drugs to the people. We're going to trick everybody from the government through to the consumer and make sure that they they tak tak tak tak tak tak. th th th thak. th th thak. th tha th tha the. the. their their their their their their their their their their their their their to their. their their to bea their their. their. their. their. their their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their their their their their their their the. thea. thea. theauuuuu. toea. their their thea. their their their their their, their, their, their, the consumer and make sure that they take as much of these pills as possible. The question I have for you is, how on earth do they trick the FDA? We got our hands on a document that seems to indicate that actually they got to a person inside the FDA. It was actually the medical officer examining the application, and they turn him. And in fact, he cooperates with them in terms of reviewing their own application. It's like a- And then a year after leaving the FDA, lo and behold, he gets a job with Purdue

for about close to $400,000. Wow. Coincidence? I think not. This is one of the saddest crime stories for me because it does not end with a sense of justice. It does not end with a sense of the world is in a better place because the company itself doesn't suffer and neither does the family who's made all of the money. That's right.

And now you're referring to Purdue. Now in a few rare occasions, some executives have been committed and have gone to prison in the case of incest for example, but we see more often it's the mid-level dealers who get nabbed, the Walter White's who get nabbed and the people at the tip-top, the Sackler family for example, or the key executives at Purdue didn't do any time and it's worse than just them getting off Scott Free. We got our hands on 120-page prosecution memo, which was repaired by federal prosecutors that argued strongly that top executives at Purdue should be charged with felonies. Mysteriously, thanks to the intervention of people like Rudy Giuliani and others, a deal was cut at the Department of Justice, and there was a bargain whereby Purdue would pay a fine. The executives would plead guilty to misdemeanors., which, which, which, which, which, which, which, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, which, which, they, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which, which of Justice, and there was a bargain whereby Purdue would pay a fine.

The executives would plead guilty to misdemeanors. They would never serve a day in prison. Purdue would pay their fines. And the most important thing was that all the evidence that was collected over the course of a four-year investigation would be buried. And in the years after that decision happened, hundreds of thousands of people died, because nobody could see the damage done. And even worse, all, you know, a ton of other companies

then rush into the market. They see that Purdue got off with a traffic ticket. So now they're going to rush into the market and really exploit this opioid situation for their own profit. When I saw that part of the documentary, one of the things I found myself thinking was, it's amazing how if you kill a person in America, you can go away for the rest of your life, but if you kill hundreds of thousands of people, somehow it's just a statistic. That's what? And the ultimate irony on top of it is, they're now paying the fines that they've been required to pay, to, the, the, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, th th thin, and, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, is, is, is, is, is, is, and, is, is, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, is, is, is, theyyy.a.a.ea.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s.s. t t t t t t t t t their,a. their,a. th their,a. th th of it is, they are now paying the fines that they've been required to pay not from their personal wealth but rather by selling more opioids. Yes, you're referring to a recent decision by the Department of Justice. Another criminal admission of guilt by the Purdue Company and Purdue agrees to pay an $8 billion fine.

You think, wow, that's great, $8 billion. What a tremendous punishment. And then you discovered, oh, wait a minute, Purdue Farma is bankrupt. The Sacklers have taken all their money out of the company. And how are they going to pay that $8 billion fine? Well, it turns out the way to pay that fine because Purdue is bankrupt is actually to sell more oxycontin. Who makes? You can't make that up. When you are, when you're a full maker, you're trying to tell us a story. You know, that's what you do in all of your documentaries. And oftentimes, those stories make people want to do something.

In this case, I felt helpless. I was like, well, I mean, the justice department did its thing, I felt helpless. I was like, well, I mean, the justice department did its thing. Justice had run its course, and yet there is no justice out there. As a storyteller, you're shining a light on this, but what would you hope that A, people can do, and B, people can change in what we're experiencing in the world today? Okay, so that's a really good question. And the last thing I want to inculcate in people is a sense of hopelessness. Because one of the things that I got out of this was that as big as the opioid crime is 500,000 people dead, you

know, many people, millions of people addicted, it pales in comparison to a larger problem, which is the unholy mixture of this turbo serge 21st century capitalism and health care. Last time I read the Hippocratic Oath, it didn't have anything to do with supply and demand or my chair. It had to do with protect the patient, do no harm. So I think all of us as citizens have got to insist now and admit that our health care system is broken and we've got to fix it. We've got to insist now and admit that our health care system is broken and we've got to fix it. We've got to rebuild it in a way that it focuses on the health of patients rather than the profit motive of corporations who are servicing it. Well I will say this, hopefully,

I genuinely hope that as many people as possible watch this and that could be the catalyst for change that so many people desperately need in this country. Alex Givney. Thank th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thuuuuuuuuuuui, thui, thuiiiiiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th could be the catalyst for change that so many people desperately need in this country. Alex Gidney, thank you again for your time, thank you again for your work, I'll see you again on the show. Great, thanks, Trevor. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show Weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy CoCencte. and videos at the Daily Show.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and

subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. You're rolling? But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.

I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts.