Finding Solutions to the Opioid Crisis: "The Crime of the Century - Big Pharma and the American Overdose Crisis"

The Yale Program in Addiction Medicine welcomes Alex Gibney, creator of HBO's The Crime of the Century, and Patrick Radden Keefe, investigative journalist and author of Empire of Pain, to discuss the role of Big Pharma in production of the opioid epidemic in the United States.

Crime of the Century, a two-part documentary, is a searing indictment of Big Pharma and the political operatives and government regulations that enable over-production, reckless distribution, and misuse of synthetic opiates. Exploring the origins, extent, and fallout of one of the most devastating public health tragedies of our time, with half a million deaths from overdoses this century alone, the film reveals that America’s opioid epidemic is not a public health crisis that came out of nowhere. With the help of whistleblowers, newly leaked documents, exclusive interviews, sobering testimony from victims of opioid addiction, and access to behind-the-scenes investigations, this exposé posits that drug companies are in fact largely responsible for manufacturing the very crisis they profit from, to the tune of billions of dollars -- and thousands of lives.

This event is part of the Yale Program in Addiction Medicine's Finding Solutions for the Opioid Crisis speaker series made possible by generous support from the Sandgaard Foundation.