The Daily Show: Ears Edition - TDS Time Machine | Big Pharma

Episode Date: November 16, 2025

Ask your doctor if this podcast is right for you, as The Daily Show takes a look back at the American pharmaceutical industry. Jon Stewart hulks out on the frustrating lack of progress in lowering health care costs for regular people. Trevor Noah looks at the Sackler family legacy of spreading opioids .Michael Che digs into the world of pharma danger and intrigue. Jon interviews Mark Cuban about his low cost pharmacy initiative. Chelsea Handler weighs in on the social risks of hoarding your Ozempic. Trevor unpacks Trump's quest to end drug addiction via the death penalty, and/or bad commercials. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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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 parineum? And why are they telling us about it at dinner time? But you know what's so horrible about our system now and the corruption that laid went in it? We're so f***ing 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 the Medicare's research. agreement with all manufacturers on all 10 drugs selected in the first round of negotiation. 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 fucking drugs because we've already paid for it with our subsidies. I'll be going to be going to the hospitals. What we do with pharmaceutical companies is like the worst shark tank deal in faking 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? The 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. Oxycontain 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. They own Purdue Pharma and will also give up control of the company. You know, I'll be honest with you, I'm torn about this story. Yes, I'm happy that the opioid companies will have to pay, but at the same time, they misled sick people about how addictive their drugs were, right? They also lobbied to lift limits on how many opioids doctors could prescribe, and then now that they've made

billions of dollars off an epidemic that caused countless debts, they just get to be like, how about we give you some of that money back and we call it even? I think it's bullshit, I'll be honest. I imagine someone broke into your house, stole a bunch of their stuff, and then when you busted them, they're like, all right, all right, you got me. How about I break you off 100, and we call it even?

Yeah, yeah, and then you're like, that's my wallet. It's like, okay, 120, 120, 120. But I got to keep the library card, okay? And even though this opioid crisis has been in the news for the past few years, the family who profited most from a lot of this devastation has managed to remain fairly anonymous. But now we're finally meeting the men behind the curtain.

For the first time, we're now seeing and hearing from Dr. Richard Sackler, the former chairman and president of Purdue Pharma respond to questions under oath. Do you know how much the Sackler family has made off? the sale of OxyCon. I don't know. Do you know if it's over $10 billion?

I don't think so. You know if it's over $5 billion? I don't know. But fair to say it's over a billion dollars? It would be fair to say that, yes. Really? Really, this guy's going to act like he doesn't know if he made a billion dollars?

Get the f*** out of here, man. You see him acting like he's thinking about it? Oh, did I? Yeah, I guess you could say... He's acting like he has to count up all his change. Well, I did get that $10 from grandma. Yeah, I made $150 from the yard sale. Oh, yeah, there's a billion dollars from killing thousands of Americans

by lying to them about their pain killers. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot that part. Oh, and I got the library card. Yeah, the library card. And the sacklers, they aren't the only ones facing consequences for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic, right? Everyone's favorite baby shampoo company has also been told it's time to pay up.

Yesterday in Oklahoma judge ruled that opioids ravaged the state in order Johnson and Johnson at pay $572 million. The judge said that the company intentionally misled the public about the dangers of its drugs. Johnson and Johnson stock was up as much as 5% since the company was ordered to pay far less than many investors expected. Yeah, you heard that right. Johnson and Johnson's stock actually went up after they were fined $572 million because they expected the punishment to be much worse. They expected the punishment to be worse. Yeah, and that tells you something.

It's like a guy coming out of the shower and his girlfriend is like, you've got some explaining to do. I was looking through your phone and who is this puppy you met? It is adorable. You know I love puppies. Why didn't you tell me? And the guy's like, oh, yeah. Oh, the puppy that I'm totally not having sex with. Yeah, the puppy.

So as it stands, these drug companies are going to pay a bunch of fines, not even admit responsibility, and no one seems to be going to jail. Which is insane when you think about it. All right? Like, just think about the levels here. Prosecutors want Felicity Huffman to go to jail for cheating in a college admission scandal.

They want to go to jail for that. But the people responsible for thousands of American deaths get to walk away with a slap on the wrist. These people are basically very formal drug dealers who are now protected just because they're a corporation. But if you look at someone like El Chapo, what's the major difference, right? Be like, oh, it's more violent, yes,

but fundamentally he's a drug dealer. They were drug dealers. Fed's took his money, and he's spending the rest of his life in prison. So if you think about it, El Chapo really only made one big mistake. He shouldn't have been a drug lord. He should have been the CEO of El Chapo, Inc. You think you understand how this business works, but you don't. Landman, TV's biggest phenomenon returns to Paramount Plus.

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Santa Clara's Assistant County Council, Danny Chu, explains the toll drugs have taken on his district. The overdose deaths are just the tip of the iceberg. In Santa Clara County, it's resulted in skyrocketing. medical costs and it's also resulted in rampant crime. So what are the drugs we're talking about? Crack, heroin, Miley, ping pong, black flag, roach spray, Crisco. Opioids like Oxycontin, Vicodin, or Percocet.

Back pain medicine? Who commits crime with a bad back? These drugs are chemically similar to heroin, and the result has been millions of people that are now addicted to these drugs. Okay, but street drugs are one thing. Pharmaceutical drugs are there to help, right? There's no evidence that these prescription painkillers work well for chronic pain conditions.

Really? Yes. Nonetheless, the drug companies market these drugs for those purposes. That's why we filed this lawsuit to hold these companies accountable. And they have a lot to be accountable for. Studies show prolonged use of these drugs reduces their effectiveness and increases the risk of overdose. But oxy requires a prescription. So how are these companies to blame?

It wasn't adding up. Then I got a visit from author and medical researcher Peter Gochi. I have a little secret for you. I can't hear you, dude. I have a little secret to tell you. I still can't hear what you're saying. A secret. What?

I'm coming out. This deep throat insider informant told me how this epidemic got out of hand. Purdue Pharma lied to the doctors and told them that oxycontin is less likely to lead to substance abuse. And this is not true. Wait, seriously? You can look at the lawsuits. Pfizer was found guilty by a jury of conspiracy.

Wow. Merck, Eli Lilly, Johnson, and Johnson was fined more than $1 billion. It's all the same. What they do is actually organized crimes. Pharmaceutical companies are like drug cartels. That's a good one. It's not a joke. It's a fact. I have studied this. Listen, man, I'm a comedian.

comedian, I know about jokes, 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 gotta 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 Oxy Triangle to confront one of them face to face. I would like to speak to your Don. Or who? Turn it up, please. Turn it up, please. Your top guy, like your Pablo Escoblo. 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 poor, Michael. Who's the f*** you? I'm Dr. John. Vera Penn.

I used to be a pharmaceutical sales rep. Finally a whistleblower emerged to tell me how these companies are allowed to continue to operate. So they can buy anyone they want the FD. The FDA, the government, the researchers, they get payoffs. Aren't you scared that they're gonna come after you? What do you think I live in Sweden? Wait, what? You live in Sweden. It's probably hard for you to hide as a brown dude in Sweden.

This is one Indian they're not gonna get it. 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 call 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. Bagina. 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. So according to these guys, pharmaceutical companies market dangerous drugs, mislead doctors, and pay people off, which raises the question, why am I with them? These pharmaceutical companies have billions of dollars they can get away with anything they want, and I'm messing with them on national. TV and you're not worried about that at all?

I wouldn't say it doesn't bother me, but... Well, it bothers me. Well, the pharmaceutical companies, they don't kill people directly. They kill them with pills. I don't want to be killed with anything. I want to live till I'm 89 years old, like you. Oh.

Could Fresh Face Michael Che really be in danger? It seemed like everywhere I turned, there they were. They're everywhere! If only there was something to be. to relieve my anxiety. Tired of another sleepless night. Do you feel overwhelmed? Anxious.

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Conditions and exclusions apply. Welcome to the daily show, Mike. Tonight, an entrepreneur, an already owner of the NBA's Dallas Marvix, co-founder of Cost Plus Drug Company. Please welcome Mark Cuban. By the way, now, you are in this interesting position in your career where you've sort of a bump. You are now, even though I think your leanings are probably you consider more independent, more libertarian, you are the left's favorite billionaire. What could be

better than f***ing up the health care system in the United States of America and making so it's affordable? That's interesting. Yeah. There's a path there. There is, I imagine when you get in that position at that height, you can't help but hear the siren call of, you're You could run this whole thing, thank you. Maybe a little bit, maybe a little bit, but, you know, just, I hate to use the cliche, but the way I was raised, I've got three kids, right? And I don't want to miss that. You know, I don't want to be 95 and look back and say, I was present, but I didn't get to know my kids at all.

Right. You know, I'd rather say, I f*** up health care and everybody's healthier and everybody's got a better world to live in. And my kids and I have friends, we're close, you know, they bring over the grandkids and the kids' kids, and that's just more important to me. Right. And do you have your eye on other industries right now where you can do sort of the same kinds of things? There's pharmacy and we're, you know, costplusdrugs.com, I'm going to get that sales pitch in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Costplusrugs.com is literally in process of having a significant impact on the drug market, right? We are pushing generic drugs down now. We're right around the corner from... Well, you're negotiating prices in a way that hasn't been done prior. Right. So when you go prior to us, there was no transparency whatsoever, right? And so nobody knew what the price of any medication was, whether you're an employer playing for your employees. And it's just run by these boards.

Yeah, these pharmacy benefit managers are dictating prices left and right. They're basically stealing money from employers and employees. And so we walked in there and said, what's the one missing piece? Transparency. So when you go to costplusdrugs.com, you put in the name of the medication you might take. Let's just say to dilafil, right? I know you don't know what that is. Sure, Adilafil.

Yeah, sure to do you. I'm so hopped up on to dilettil right now. You have no idea. Do you know what it is? I don't. Generic's the Alice. Um, as I said before,

I am so hot up on a city with that. So when you go to cost plus drugs.com and you put it into Dillifil or whatever, first thing we do is we show you our cost. Then we show you our markup, which is always 15%, and everybody gets the same price. because we're mail order to start. We're starting to partner with pharmacies now. There's a shipping fee, and then there's a fee for the pharmacist to review everything.

And when you do it that way, the price is legal. Of course it's legal, yeah. It's good all American capitalism. But let me just tell you the impact. There are drugs that there's a drug called a matinib for chemotherapy. That when we started, the price of a matineeve, if you just walked into a big pharmacy, a big chain pharmacy, was going to be $2,000. You go to costplusdrugs.com, it's under 30.

There's a drug. Droxidopa. That's just insane. I had a friend, I had a friend Landon, who was in a terrific car crash, and he needed this drug, Droxidopa. I lost his insurance. It was going to be $30,000 every three months. I'm like, let me just check to see if we can get it. $64 a month, and the price has gone down since. All because we were transparent. But, like, weren't there dudes like Martin Schrelli in jail for shit like that? Like, when you jack prices up like that, And why can't the United States government negotiate in terms of, if you're the largest customer to any industry, it's criminal that you wouldn't use any leverage to make those things more available to people. The problem was there's these thing called pharmacy benefit managers, right? And they're basically responsible for doing the negotiating with, to a certain extent, Medicare, but with all the large employers. If you're one of those big companies that cover 150 million employees across the country, that's who you negotiate with.

And the first rule, when they negotiate, they say is, you can't talk about this. It's like Fight Club. You cannot say what your price is. You can't say what we're doing in our negotiation. And they got so big doing that that nobody ever questioned them. We come along, and actually Martin Screlli plays a little part in this whole thing. Because when he got thrown in jail, I was talking to Alex Lashmiansky, my partner. And it's like, if this dude can just jack up the price, it is not an efficient market.

That means nobody knows what the real cost is. If we publish our price, boom, the whole world's going to change. As it turns out, the FTC just came out with this report criticizing the PBMs. They used our pricing data. The smartest thing we did was... So this brings up... So FTC is the Federal Trade Commission, and boy, there's nothing the tech world hates more than the FTC. Than the FTC.

So how does that square? Well, you know, like any agency, they do something's right and something's wrong. But in this case, with the PBMs, they're crushing them. And it's justified. Now, is it something that can't be done throughout the health care? Because one of the difficulties with health care is the contingencies of you can't really comparison shop when you have a heart attack. Like you're basically saying, drive me to the closest hospital. Take care of me.

But those prices you're talking about, you could get heart attack treatment at this hospital. It's $150,000. But you go up the street and it's $12,000. And it's all about training. And what happens is who's pain when you, you know, God forbid, have a heart attack and you go there. And let's just say it's going through your employer. Right. Your employer has no idea what they're paying. And so what we're saying is on drugs first, and now we're just getting it approved today, we're going to publish all contracts. Never before has it been done where for my companies, we're saying if you want to do business with us, if this hospital system wants to work with my companies, whatever it may be, we're going to publish them and put them online for anybody to see all of our pricing. But so then why do I think that's fantastic.

But I'm curious that why is there such pushback on this idea of applying those same kinds of competitions and things to our health care system? You know, we talk about we have got a privatized health care system and it's the best in the world. But very clearly, it doesn't function like a free market. No, it's not free market at all. So what is so terrible about getting everybody health care? Like, why is that such anathema? But these companies, these PBMs and the big insurance companies, they call them the Bucas, the largest insurance companies, right? They are so big, like I keep on saying, big employers cover 150 million people, right?

And the CEO of this big company doesn't know much about health care and their health care costs. And so they just say to them, okay, we're going to write you a check for a rebate, even though it's your sickest employees that are paying for that rebate. They just don't know. It's so interesting because it's such a non-villainous. you know nobody ever talks about like big prescription benefit manager right like that's a good thing it's always like big oil is going to come down or big tobacco or big pharma and it's really like the pbm middle manager yeah that's what it is right and you cut them out right there's no reason for the big ones that control 90% of the prescriptions that are filled there's no reason for them to exist

there are others that are called pass-through pbms right that show you all your claims show you all your data show you all your pricing that do it for a fraction of the price right So there's an opportunity. Disruption, baby. Disruption, baby. That's what I like to see. What's that now? What else you have your eye on?

Health care. It's going to be health care. Health care. I'm with that. I'm with that too. And it might be, you know, with that money if you could help the next. Okay, forget it. Now, everything.

If you are like most Americans, you love trying to lose weight while not losing any weight. But now there's a new dream. drug that really causes weight loss. There's just one small downside. You may have seen photos of celebrities and others showing off dramatic weight loss. Some say it's diet and exercise, yet millions openly credit drugs used to treat obesity

and diabetes for getting so skinny. OZMPIC is a drug that was developed to treat diabetes. But in recent months, demand for that drug has soared because one of its side effects is weight loss. Many are now calling for this trend to end because it's causing a shortage in medicine. that they desperately need. The company that makes Ozempic blames the shortage on intermittent supply disruptions. Company also said, while doctors might be prescribing Ozempic for weight loss,

the company does not promote doing so. Come on. Stop stealing medication from diabetes patients. If you want to lose weight, just do a juice cleanse and spend the next three days on the toilet like a normal person. But I'll tell you what, if Ozepic isn't going to be able to stop celebrities from taking it for weight loss, they could at least change. change their ads to warn diabetics about it. People with type 2 diabetes are excited about how ozempic treats blood sugar and weight loss. Thanks to ozempic, I have a ton more energy now,

which I need to fight off the hordes of real housewives trying to steal my ozambic. I said, get back, Lisa! All it takes is one dose per week, and a panic room to hide from all the TikTok influencers. I'm not going out like Billy. They stripped him to his bones his ozepic. Even did a little tic-tok dance while they did it.

Ozempic is not for everyone. If you are not prepared to kill for Ozepic, it may not be right for you. Check with your doctor to see if you're healthy enough for extended fist fighting. In the event of a celebrity attack, Ozempic's sleek pen can be hidden inside your rectum, preventing theft. Ozepic has given me the freedom to live my... Oh shit, it's Chelsea Hamlet! I needed to host the daily show! Ask your doctor about Ozempic today. Thanks, Ozempic.

Thanks, Ozambic. Thanks, Ozambic. I don't have it, I swear. That's what everybody says. Ozemp probably survived. You may have heard of the sex cult nexium and the famous actress who went to prison for her involvement, Alison Mack.

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How's this? Oh, yeah? Way better. Save on insurance by switching to Bell Air Direct and use the money to fix your car. Bell Air Direct, insurance, simplified. Conditions apply. Well, let's move on to our main story, opioid addiction. It's a nationwide epidemic, and luckily for the opioids, Donald Trump is on the case.

President Trump is talking tough on the opioid crisis. On Monday in New Hampshire, one of the state's hardest hit by addiction. He unveiled a plan to combat that nationwide epidemic. The president flew to New Hampshire to make his announcement, a state he once called a drug-infested den. Wow, a drug-infested den? Trump is the only person who will help people while insulting them. Like, you never saw Jesus in the Bible being like,

let's give a hand to this poor leper. Because the one he had fell off. Oh! Oh! You get it? No, no, I'm going to heal you. I'll me heal you, but that was funny. That was funny. That was funny. Come on. That was funny.

All right, any blind people here? The blind guy's like, shh, don't tell him I'm here. I don't want to get roasted. Now, because the opioid crisis is one that's been close to Trump's heart for a long time, the president did lay out some good proposals, right? for instance, allowing Medicaid to pay for residential rehab, encouraging production of less addictive painkillers,

and more accountability for pharmaceutical companies. And you can tell from his tone that he's not messing around. Whether you are a dealer or doctor or trafficker or a manufacturer if you break the law and illegally peddle these deadly poisons, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will hold you accountable. Wow, we will find you, arrest you, and hold you accountable.

You know he's taking this seriously because he's talking about drugs like the Hillary. Now, before you get carried away, saying, wow, Donald has rarely turned into a reasonable president. Don't forget, he may know how to act presidential, but underneath it all, he's still Trump. 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 serve it. The country is not ready. We are ready.

It's insane. At least we know that even if no one runs against Trump in 2020, the debates are still going to be great. He'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. 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. In this opioid crisis, that's hardly the only kind of person involved. So do you also kill doctors who over-prescribe 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, 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 will 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 presidents 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. Joey, I got some stuff you just got to try. What is it? Pot.

You know, marijuana. Oh, well, I don't know. Chicken, I'm not chicken. You're a turkey. Okay, those commercials were very, very bad. And here's the thing, they weren't just corny, right? Studies have shown that those commercials didn't actually work. Remember those commercials that were supposed to stop you from smoking pot?

The National Institutes of Health say it may have done the opposite. According to a study of 12-and-a-half to 18-year-old. from 1999 to 2004, ad campaigns were, quote, unlikely to have favorable effects on youths. Even more, some rounds of the study proved watching more commercials actually predicted teens would be more inclined to use drugs. That's right, believe it or not,

drug commercials might make teens more likely to use drugs. Because when you tell a teenager something is dangerous, it just makes them want to do it more. Yeah, and I mean, think about it. We've been warned for decades that Cheetos are dangerously cheesy. and yet we still lost Jeremy to them.

He died as he lived. Flaming hot. So look, I believe that the president sincerely wants to keep young people away from drugs, which is why here at The Daily Show, we've decided to help. You see, typical anti-drug PSAs don't work on the kids. What Trump needs is a way to make drugs

seem really uncool for young people. And for once, I believe he's the right man for the job. Because according to polls, two-thirds of American teenagers think Donald Trump is totes lame. So to keep them off drugs, all the president needs to do is pretend that he takes drugs,

which shouldn't be that hard. Joey, I got some stuff you just got to try. What is it? Opioids, you know, the good stuff. You think doing drugs makes you cool, wrong. Drug abuse leads the serious problems like memory loss.

I don't know what I said. I don't remember. Aggression. I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you. Slurred speech. God bless the United Church. And whatever this is. Bing, Bing, bang, bang, bang, bing, bing.

Drugs don't make you look cool. They make you look like this. Don't be like Trump. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch The Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.