Pain Killers (2013)

In one year, they've claimed the lives of more than 16,000 people in the United States. They've stolen identities, broken families, and led to life changing addictions. And they are likely sitting in your medicine cabinet this very moment. In the last 20 years, there has been a fundamental shift in the way doctors have been treating pain in North America. Powerful pain killers known as opioids used to be reserved for treating the terminally ill. But today, they're at the center of a national health epidemic. The results have been catastrophic. Every 20 minutes an American dies due to an overdose on opioids. And for the first time in history, more people are dying from a prescription drug overdose than a car crash as the leading cause of accidental death in North America. We seek to answer some of the toughest questions surrounding this epidemic. How did these drugs become so prevalent? Who is responsible? And most importantly: What can be done to stop our youths from abusing these drugs? In this powerful documentary, we speak with renowned experts, parents who have lost children, and individuals who personally experienced the throes of addiction. This documentary will inform you about the dangers of abusing opioids and how you can help someone who is caught in the deadly grip of prescription drug addiction.