Painkiller: Is Edie Flowers real? – Dexerto

While Painkiller on Netflix is ​​full of villains, there is one character who has not stopped fighting for justice: Edie Flowers. But is he real? Read on to find out, as we also explain OxyContin and the story behind its scary merchandise: incl That doll toy.

The painkiller dropped on Netflix earlier this month, chronicling the shocking rise and fall of Purdue Pharma’s Sackler family and its aggressive marketing campaign for the highly addictive and dangerous opioid OxyContin.

Much like Hulu’s Dopesick, which is telling the same story in 2021, there are a number of characters based on real people, including the cowardly Richard Sackler – who is bull-like in his approach to getting ahead with the drug. All in the name of financial gain.

Another similarity is that Painkiller uses characters to represent groups of people affected by the opioid crisis, including doctors, authorities, and everyday pain patients who are being sold lies. So, what about Edie Flowers? Warning: Some people may find this content disturbing.

Painkiller: Is Edie Flowers real?

In Netflix’s Painkiller, Edie Flowers is a made-up character – but she represents the many investigators working tirelessly to bring down Richard Sackler and his house of cards.

Edie is an earnest attorney who works for a US attorney’s office in Roanoke, Virginia. As we learn throughout the series, his family was torn apart by the crack epidemic in the 1980s, which motivated him to prevent the same from happening with the opioid crisis.

Netflix

Orange is the New Black star Uzo Aduba plays the character, previously telling Netflix that while Edie isn’t a real person, it wasn’t difficult to land the role thanks to the extensive coverage and research she was able to do.

“[The filmmakers] do this brilliant thing in this story of owning a car [running parallel] each other,” said Aduba. “The world of Edie Flowers, who is a fictional person but is a composite of investigators, coexists with the very real Richard Sackler.”

He went on to say: “Having these points of intersection where two worlds come together is very impactful and powerful.”

Painkiller: Is the OxyContin doll real?

Yes, in the early days of OxyContin, marketers would give out all kinds of merch to attract doctors and medical professionals – including plush toys shaped like pills and featuring smiley faces.

At many moments throughout the series, we see the creepy toy make its way into the spokesperson’s house, in the doctor’s office, and even the pharmacy – much to Edie’s surprise.

Netflix

When you think about it, it’s disturbing to imagine a world where children’s toys were used to promote a drug nearly as strong as heroin, which went on to claim thousands of lives and cause a widespread epidemic across America.

Purdue Pharma hasn’t stopped at stuffed toys either, having released a number of “swag” items including OxyContin-branded fishing hats, mugs, pens and CDs.

As well as being overly aggressive in marketing the drug, critics argue that using plush toys and similar items belittles the powerful and addictive opioids, making them appear harmless or even enjoyable.

Promotional items are also used as a means of influencing doctors and medical professionals, who are supposed to make impartial decisions in the best interests of their patients.

As depicted in Painkiller, Edie saw the strategy firsthand after realizing how pervasive OxyContin’s problem was – and how it had flown under the authorities’ radar.

In Episode 2, Edie visits a drugstore to find out more about a case, but before she gets the chance, a junkie arrives trying to rob an OxyContin. And there sitting on the table is one stuffed toy.

Talking about the incident years later, he said: “I thought, at one point in that Purdue marketing meeting, someone said, ‘You know what we need to help us sell our Schedule 2 narcotics? We need big, fluffy, fluffy, fluffy, fluffy OxyContin pills.’

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“So they designed a toy, got it manufactured and shipped all the way from China to Virginia, a drug rep drove it to Carroll County, put it in the hands of a pharmacist who an addict would jump into.

“So that means addicts know about OxyContin, pharmacists know about OxyContin, doctors know about OxyContin, even people in China who make toys know about OxyContin, but I don’t know anything.

“It came under the radar somehow, and that’s the brilliance of the idea and why it spread so quickly.”

Painkillers: What are the ingredients in OxyContin?

Another question that has arisen since the release of Painkiller is: what is OxyContin made of? The main active component is oxycodone hydrochloride, a strong semisynthetic opioid often used to treat severe pain.

As per the FDA, inactive ingredients include: ammonio methacrylate copolymer, hypromellose, lactose, magnesium stearate, polyethylene glycol 400, povidone, sodium hydroxide, sorbic acid, stearyl alcohol, talc, titanium dioxide, and triacetin.

Oxycodone is made by modifying thebaine, an alkaloid found in opium, which is extracted from the poppy plant.

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Purdue pushes products in multiple strengths, often recommending doses that are too high for pain patients who shouldn’t be taking such strong opioids.

What’s more, Sacklers makes claims that one tablet will last for 12 hours, and when patients start to build a tolerance or the effects wear off before their next dose, they tell doctors to prescribe a higher dose over the same time frame.

While most doctors would recommend starting at 10mg, Richard Sackler and his family members at Purdue have continued to push sales representatives to increase the dosage, even releasing 160mg tablets – which have been dubbed “OxyCoffins”, for obvious reasons.

OxyContin is described as a “chemical cousin” to heroin, and is twice as potent as morphine. While prescribing strong opioids is nothing new, until the Purdue campaign, they were generally reserved for cancer pain and palliative care at the end of life.

Although Sacklers and Purdue have faced thousands of lawsuits over the years, for many, the damage was done.

Painkiller is available to stream on Netflix now. You can see more coverage below: