Finally available on Netflix, Merchants of Pain is loosely inspired by a federal case concerning a pharmaceutical company accused of having actively participated in the opioid crisis in the United States.
The opioid crisis or one of the biggest health disasters in recent years in the United States. More and more films and series are tackling the subject, often brilliantly.
Merchants of Pain, which arrived with fanfare on Netflix, tackles the same problem. The first minutes make us understand that David Yates’ new production will not focus on the Sackler family and OxyContin, but on another pharmaceutical company, accused by the government of having actively participated in this health crisis. Because many of them have used unscrupulous methods to enrich themselves.
Inspired by a True Story
If Merchants of Pain is inspired by a true story, the names have been changed. Lonafen, the “miracle” drug sold by Emily Blunt and Chris Evans, is actually called Subsys. But it is the same product: fentanyl spray, to be applied under the tongue, for faster penetration. As for Zanna, the pharmaceutical company that produces it, it is actually Insys Therapeutics. Its founder, John Kapoor (played by Andy Garcia on screen), made news in 2017 when he was arrested and convicted of fraud.
The Netflix film is based on the book written by journalist Evan Hughes titled The Hard Sell, which is the result of an investigation published in the New York Times. The author explains in particular how Kapoor hired several women aged 20 to 30 to go door to door.
Merchants of Pain shows quite well the techniques that were used to sell Subsys: convincing doctors to prescribe the drug in exchange for money and invitations to conferences, then encouraging them to offer the spray to patients who are not not suffering from cancer (although it was exclusively intended for him) etc.
If the characters played by Emily Blunt and Chris Evans did not really exist, they represent the hypocrisy of the system. Certain employees of the company Insys did indeed inform the FBI, which allowed the company to be condemned and go bankrupt.
As for his boss, John Kapoor, he was sentenced in 2017 to 5 and a half years in prison, before appealing. The man is currently incarcerated in a Minnesota prison, but will not serve his full sentence…