Is Painkiller based on a true story?

Painkiller is a six-part series that’s now available to stream on Netflix. Is it based on a true story, or was this completely made up?

As you watch Painkiller, you may feel like a lot of the story seems like it’s happened. Then there are moments that you feel just couldn’t have happened in real life. The truth is that reality is worse than fiction at times.

Is this one of those cases? Did any of the events in the Netflix series happen? Was this a real look at the opioid crisis that we have around the world today?

Painkiller is a fictionalized telling of real events

Truth really is stranger than fiction.

You see, we spend all this time condemning drugs. It could be heroin, cocaine, and even weed in some parts of the world. And yes, while many of them are certainly dangerous, there is a much bigger problem on our hands. It’s all about the opioid crisis.

Painkillers are extremely easy to get a hold of. Not all of them are as strong as OxyContin, but even that is something that people find a way to get if their doctors won’t prescribe them. These medications are among the most addictive in the world. This is something that Big Pharma knows, and yet nobody is doing anything to stop the opioid crisis.

That’s what Painkiller takes a look at. While there are certainly fictionalized elements for the sake of drama, there are also plenty of moments that are based on fact. This is a story about how one pharmaceutical company managed to market its painkillers as something good for people, generating billions of dollars for itself. The company also knowingly created millions of addicts knowing just how addictive the medications are.

Painkiller is now available to stream on Netflix.