The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Will Big Pharma Ever Face Justice for the Opioid Crisis?

Episode Date: September 19, 2023

The Supreme Court recently blocked a bankruptcy deal that would have given full immunity to the members of the Sackler family who once controlled Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. Trevor Noah calls out the frustrating contradictions within the initial deal and shares his thoughts on what it would take for the heads of these corporations to be brought to justice. But first, Michael Che tries to get to the bottom of Big Pharma’s role in the opioid epidemic and Trevor covers the ineffective, lobbyist-influenceced solutions brought forward by Congress and then-President Trump. Trevor then discusses the causes, effects, and realities of the opioid crisis with documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, director of “The Crime of the Century.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday?

I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. I want to talk about drugs. I want to wrap to you about drugs. In that they have terrible effects on millions of Americans in an epidemic almost too horrible to comprehend. Man. Michael Che has more. The scourge of drugs has long ravaged this nation.

Santa Clara 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, Molly, ping pong, black flag, rope spray, Crisco?

Opioids, like oxycontin, vicariouset. Back pain medicine? Who commits crime with 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 things. th. th. th. th. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, black, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's black, black, black, black, black, it, it, it, it, it, it. It, it. It, it. It, it. It, it. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It. It, it. It, it. It, it. It, it. It, it. It, it. It, it. It, it. It, it. It's, it. It's, it. It's, it. It's, it. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's black, it's black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black 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 lossi to hold these 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 Gocci. 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 oxy Conton 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 organize 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. 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 part part part part part part part part part part part part part that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's. that's. thia. thia. thia. thi? thi? thi? thi? thi? thi? thi? thi. thiololomea. 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. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to. t t t tooooo. t to.a.a. to.a. t t to'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 OxyTriangle to confront one of them face to face.

Can I would like to speak to your Don? Or who? You're Dine, like the drug lord or whatever the 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 poor Michael. Who's the f-feehue? 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 FDA, the government, the researchers, they get payoffs. Aren't you scared that they're going to come after you? What 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 there 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. Pagina.

They conceal the vagina. Well, I think people people people people people people people people people people th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi to the vagina. 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 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 fucking 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 Freshface Michael Che really be in danger? It seemed like everywhere I turned, there they were. They're everywhere! If only there was something to relieve my anxiety. Tired of another sleepless night. Do you feel overwhelmed?

Anxious? Nervous. toxinus. Your mind is racing and you're scared. Now there's help. Ask your doctor about Celebrax, Symbolic, Zoloff, Paxil, Ziban, Rosarum, and Vocana, Prozac, Ambient Abilify. Just talk to your doctor.

Thanks, pharmaceutical companies. Side effects include nausea, dry mouth, diarrhea, and death. Michael Che. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday, we're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these

earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Let's get to the big story of the day. If you are watching the news, this is probably all you heard. This morning there's a big development in the opioid crisis.

A new chapter in the fight against opioid addiction. America's opioid epidemic. The opioid crisis. The opioid crisis. The opioid crisis. Our nation's opioid crisis. The opioid crisis. Yes. The opioid drug crisis. The opioid crisis. The opioid crisis. The opioid crisis. Yes. The opioid drug crisis. Now when a lot of people hear about drugs they don't think of prescription drugs. All right. People think of weed or LSD or mushrooms. You know, fun drugs. The ones that make the music better and the dancing worse. But today the abuse of prescription opioids like oxy or percocet is devastating America. These drugs are so widespread

that they're now even in the hook of rap songs. Perkinsit, yeah, Molly, percissue, trucets. Yeah. Percasset, Molly, percasset. Back in the day was cocaine. Now it's like prescription drugs. Prescription drugs. And by the way, Future makes opioids sound cool in that song. But don't forget, kids, in real life, opioids aren't just addictive. They also cause severe constipation.

Yeah. Which is the one thing Future didn't put in that song. Constipate. My poo is constipate. Take a dump. I can't. constipate. Take a dump. I cannot take a dump. Pooh hard. Yeah, poo hard. It's left out of the song. But the reality is opioids are now responsible for over 34,000 deaths a year in America. 34,000 deaths, right? In fact, since the year 2000, the number of overdose

deaths involving opioids has quadrupled. And that doesn't count the people who go on to OD on heroin after first getting addicted to prescription pills. So how did this crisis get out of control? Well, a big part of it is that for decades, a lot of doctors were freely prescribing opioids to treat almost any level of pain. Doctors would just give out pills for everything, back pain, tooth aches, fomo, th, th, th, th, th, and th, and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and I'm, and I'm, and I'm, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia-a, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and I Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and I Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and Ia, and I'm, and I'm thi, and I'm thi, thi, thi, thr-s, thr-s, t.a, thau.a, thau.e.a, thau.e.e.a, tha-s, thr-s, thr- everything, back pain, toothaches, fomo, whatever. And once people were addicted they were desperate to get their pills and the pharmaceutical industry was more than happy to keep selling them. Jim Geldof, a 40-year DEA veteran, ran pharmaceutical investigations from DEA's

Detroit Field Office. They saw distributors shipping thousands of suspicious orders. One example, a pharmacy in Kermit, West Virginia, a town of just 392 people, ordered 9 million hydrocodone pills over two years. Holy teats. 9 million pills for 400 people. Even if one of those people is Charlie Sheen. That still leaves 8 million pills unaccounted for. Now, you would think this would be an easy problem to solve, right?

You just get the DEA in to shut down the pill distributor that's flooding the market with all these drugs. The problem is, last year, those bitch-ass-s***s in Congress unanimously passed a law. Yeah, I said it unanimously, unanimously passed a law, greatly cutting the DA's power to go after these shady pill distributors. And if you're wondering, but Trevor, why would Congress pass a law, helping to protect drug companies in the middle of a drug crisis? Well, it's because of the thing that they're addicted to. Money. We wanted to find out just how much the pharmaceutical industry spends lobbying members of Congress.

Drugmakers and their advocacy groups spent close to $250 million last year. That surges to nearly $2.5 billion over the past decade. The industry consistently ranks at the top when it comes to money spent on lobbying. Gun rights lobbying last year totaled about 10.5 million dollars. That is just about 4% of what the pharmaceutical industry spent. That's right, the pharmaceutical industry spends so much money lobbying Congress that, and this is true, they got to write the law that crippled the DEA, which is insane. $250 million and you can write your own law. You don't, and th, and th, and th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, th, $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $1, $1, $1, $1, $1, $1, $1, $1, $1,000, $1,000, $1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 is insane. $250 million and you can write your own law. You don't think that we all want to write our own laws? You don't think I want to write my own laws? The no-speed limit for people with Dimples law? You don't

think I think that should be a thing? Huh? Huh? Huh? So the opioid crisis is huge and the pharmaceutical industry isn't really interested in helping. But fortunately my friends, as we saw in August, there's one man who gets it. The opioid crisis is an emergency, and I'm saying officially right now it is an emergency, it's a national emergency. We're going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money on the opioid crisis. Now, we want to laugh, but that was huge. Declaring the opioid crisis, an official national emergency???? that is, that is, that is that was huge. Declaring the opioid crisis an official national emergency, that is a big step.

Because when the president does that, the government can start using money from a multi-billion dollar fund to fight the problem. Donald Trump, getting it done. Yeah. All he had to do was sign the paperwork, which he took care of this afternoon. Effective today, my administration is officially declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency under federal law. That's right, people. Trump finally came through. Give him a run of applause. Give him a run of applause.

He did it. He declared the opioid crisis a national of applause. Stop hating. Give him a run of applause. He did it. He declared the opioid crisis, a national public health emergency, which I just realized is not a thing. God damn, he got us again. No, no, because it's subtle, but they're two different things. There's a national emergency, and there's a public health emergency. It's a small word change, but it makes a big difference. It's, it's, it's, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like thiiiiii, it's like thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th emergency. It's a small word change but

it makes a big difference. It's like saying 12 inch t t t t twelve inch t t t t t twoean t-insh f-t-ps. You see a national emergency means the government would have had access to 23 billion dollars to help fight the opioid epidemic. That's what Trump promised. What Trump actually signed was a public health emergency, which gives the government access to a fund that currently has $57,000 in it. That's a huge difference. Yeah, put it this way.

If you had to go to rehab, who would you want funding it? The CEO of Verizon, or Craig, who works at Verizon. Now, you know what, this isn't even one of those days where I'm angry at Trump. I'm just, I'm disappointed because what he delivered was very far from the promise. You know, it's vaguely similar, but it's not the same thing. It's like if Trump stood at the border in a few years and was like, ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to announce my big, beautiful, Walgreens. No Mexicans allowed. And guess who paid for it?

Mexico's neighbor America. The words changed everything. So once again, President Trump did not fail to disappoint. But you know what? There's really nothing to worry about. Because we've already seen that Donald Trump can't handle the drug crisis all by himself. Raise your hands, kids. I promise Donald J. Trump. I promise Donald J. Trump that I will never take drugs.

I don't want to say no alcohol, but take it easy on the alcohol, right? And you know what else? No cigarettes, right? All right, kids. He's the best American Trump president ever. We'll be right back. 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 tie to the opioid crisis. Oxy Cottonmaker, 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 the 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, uh, how about we give, their 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. We got, how about I break you off a hundred and we call it even. Okay? And even though, 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 seen and hearing from Dr. Richard Sackler, the former chairman and president of Purdue Phma 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 gonna act like he doesn't know if he made a billion dollars? Get the f-h s'c-h 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's a billion dollars from killing thousands of Americans by lying to them about their painkillers. Oh yeah, I almost forgot that part.

Oh, and I got the library card. Yeah, the library card. And the cyclists, they aren't the only ones facing consequences for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic, right? Everyone's favorite baby shampoo company has to tode.................... the the the the the their, their, their, their, to be, their, t, to be, to be, t. t. to be, to be, to. to. to. to. to. to. today, to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. Oh, I, I, I, I. Oh, I. Oh, I. Oh, to. Oh, to. Oh, t, the. And, t, the.. And, to.... And, to.... And, to.. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. And, to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the the state and ordered Johnson and Johnson to 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, uh, you've got some explaining to do? I was looking through your phone and who is this puppy? You thus tho- the guy's like, uh the th th th th th th thu. thu. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi thi. Uh, uh thi. Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, th. Uh, their, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, their, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, their..... their. their. their. their, their.. their. their. their. their. their. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, th. Yeah, thi. Yeah, thi. Yeah, thi. Yeah, thi's thi's, 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 here. the levels here the levels here the levels here the levels here... the levels here the levels here the levels here the levels here the levels here.. the levels here the levels here. the levels here. the levels here. the levels here. thi thi thi, thi's thi, thi, thi to thi's thi's thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi, to thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, the pc, the puuu thooooooooooooooooes. And the. And the. And the. And thi going to jail. Which is insane when you think about it. 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 Chappo, what's the major difference? Be like, oh, it's more violent, yes, but fundamentally these are drug dealers. The feds took his money, and he's spending the rest of his life in prison. So if you think about it, El Chappo really only made one big mistake. He shouldn't have been a drug lord.

He should have been the CEO of El Chappo Inc. We'll be right back. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? tha. tha. to the to to to to to the ingredients're going to be talking about the election earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient-to-bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show

with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. My first guest is the Emmy and Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney. He's here to talk about his powerful new HBO documentary about the opioid crisis. 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, four hours, called 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 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 from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from the government from the government from the government from the government from the government from the government from the government from the government from the government from the government from the government from the government from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from from the government., from the government., from the government. the government. the government from the government. the government from the government from the government from the government. the government. the the the the government. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to the to to going to trick everybody from the government through to 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. 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 Incis, 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 Tippy 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, 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.

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 it is. And the ultimate irony on top 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. Eight billion dollars. What a tremendou- th th th th, what a th, what a th, what a th, what a th. th. th. th th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thr- thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi they've they've they've they've thi they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they've they're they're they're they're they're they're thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. throooooo. throo. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. their thi. their their thi 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 foolmaker, you're trying to tell us a story. You know, that's what you do in all of your documentaries and and oftentimes those stories make people want to do something. In this case, I felt helpless. I was like, well, I mean, the justice,

you know, 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 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 not a 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 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 Gibney, thank you again for your time. Thank you again for your work. I'll see you again on the show. Great, thanks, Trevor. Alex Gibney's two-part HBO documentary, The 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 Fairmount Plus.

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