Prescription Thugs (2015) Reviews

• just ask your doctor?

  ferguson-62016-01-21

  Greetings again from the darkness. United States citizens are living in a culture of addiction. That's the key message that director Chris Bell and his co-directors Josh Alexander (also the film's writer) and Greg Young wish to get across. Of course, this one's not about cocaine or heroin, but rather the more rampant societal problem of overmedication via prescription drugs. It's not really a revelation or shock-inducing theme, but it's certainly a worthy and important topic. The movie begins with Chris Bell introducing himself and reminding us of his first movie, the well received documentary Bigger Stronger Faster (2008). In that one, he focused on the use of steroids and Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED's) throughout competitive bodybuilding – including him and his brother. Bell connects the two docs by explaining that the steroids lead to pain killers and other prescription drugs … legal drugs prescribed by doctors. To the detriment of the message, he chooses to focus on this for an extended period by speaking with WWE wrestlers, MMA fighters and by explaining that he believes the drugs are at least partially responsible for the death of his brother, known in the wrestling world as Mike "Mad Dog" Bell. It's this overly-personalized approach that limits the film's effectiveness. Chris Bell takes the Michael Moore/Morgan Spurlock approach by putting himself smack dab in the middle of most every segment, and even using cutesy sidebars like animation and a Scarface clip. The result is a somewhat amateurish look and feel to a topic that deserves better. In case there are doubters, Bell provides some startling statistics … the U.S. is 5% of the world's population, but consumes 75% of the prescription drugs. One in ten American adults are on antidepressants. Keep that last statistic in mind the next time you stroll through your office, church or the neighborhood shopping mall. Bell devotes time to "Big Pharma" and its army of lobbyists. He takes us back to the deregulation initiatives of the 1980's which kicked off what has become the onslaught of "ask your doctor" TV ads that permeate the airwaves. The implied message is simple: if your doctor says the drug is OK, then it must be safe and effective. Our society is being marketed right into addiction. Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Codeine are all part of the Opiate family … the same as heroin. The reality is that the business of prescription drugs has evolved into a money-printing industry. Profits are the goal, which is why treatment is emphasized over cure. An addicted patient is profitable patient, and in a best case scenario for Big Pharma, the side effects of one drug lead that patient right into another drug … sometimes both are produced by the same pharmaceutical manufacturer! The second half of the film is structured significantly better than the first, and includes what is the most impactful sequence. Bell visits with California Congressman Ted Lieu, who is jolted into action when he is sees that Oxy is readily available on Craigslist. This section also leads to a not-so-surprising confession from Bell – a confession that helps explain why he is so intent on being the center of the movie. A key point that is mentioned, but underplayed, is the admission by a doctor that an entire generation of medical school graduates has been taught that there is no downside to prescribing whatever level of pain medication is required for a patient, and even more frightening is the concern that doctors are being misled by drug companies in regards to efficacy and side effects. It's another link in the seemingly unbreakable chain that doesn't address the underlying issue. This culture of addiction is now self-perpetuating. Pressure to maintain profits far outweighs the rewards of curing a disease, and the FDA approval process is highly politicized. This despite the high-profile celebrity deaths of which Bell reminds us: Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Whitney Houston. Prescription drugs played a role in each those deaths, as well as countless others who never had a hit record or movie. While much has been made of the failures of the "War on Drugs", you may question why more focus isn't given to the Rx addictions. To help in dealing with this conundrum, there are probably drugs available … just "ask your doctor."

• All in the Family

  juliadixonx2018-08-23

  Seems like the mother set her sons up for addiction with rampant overeating, in the process demonstrating that one solves pain by consuming substances. Food can be a drug; its overconsumption is often a compulsive behavior.

• Prescription Thugs: A Personal Study of Corruption of the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry

  AnnaFaktorovich2016-05-13

  Excerpt from Cinematic Codes Review: Spring 2016 Issue: for visuals see: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/ccr/film-reviews-spring-2016/ This is the second documentary I watched with Chris Bell as the narrator and interviewer, and I like his bland of personal stories about the struggles with steroids and other drugs that his family has gone through as his two brothers and he have attempted to make in competitive sports. Statistics, law codes and other highly researched information is presented on how the Big Pharma industry works. I would definitely recommend this film to anybody considering taking legal uppers, downers, painkillers and other drugs that interrupt the human mind. I have been thinking about this topic lately after Robin Williams' suicide after a struggle to find anti-depressants that would keep him actively employed as he struggled to pay off a divorce and start over with his new wife in his giant mansion. It's great to see that other people in America are concerned about drug addiction and that it's not a War only between the state and the bulk of the American public. Fig. 24. Mike Bell (left) in a World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. match for Monday Night Raw. The picture above is of Mike Bell, Chris Bell's brother, who was the first to succeed between the three Bell brothers and inspired Chris as he started following his path. In this screenshot, Mike is losing a match once again to a popular opponent in a World Wrestling Entertainment event. Chris describes how Mike started to feel that he was just following a carnival as a side act, instead of taking the center-stage. He was also suffering a lot of beatings in WWE and the pain from these got him hooked on pain killers until his addiction got out of control and he died during the filming of Prescription Thugs, a fate that Chris anticipated with worry from the beginning of the project. Chris recalled his older brother, Mike, saying, "I'd rather be dead than average." About this volatile idea, Chris comments: "It was part of his bigger than life persona. How did he let drugs take that away from him? Was my brother's death just another sad junkie story, or were there other forces at work that pushed him into it?" Chris also confesses at the end of the film that he himself had been struggling with addiction to drugs, and had to check into rehab before he finished shooting. The research is really helped by first-hand, honest accounts from him and the athletes with similar problems that he interviews. This film presents some great facts that explain the legal drug epidemic. In the diagram below, 535 Republican and Democrat congressional representatives are having on average $422,000 thrown on them annually from the 1,445 lobbyists representing Big Pharma. The congressmen that receive the most donations, can run the most expensive advertising campaigns and are likely to be re-elected. Thus, there is a cycle that keeps recycling more politicians willing to accept bribes, while those who stand up for their beliefs are ousted out of office. Fig. 25. Republican and Democrat 535 congressmen and the 1,445 lobbyists for Big Pharma that give each Congressman $422,000 annually. Because of all of the problems with corruption in Washington DC, it was refreshing to see a state representative that is acting on facts and on his moral obligations to his community. Fig. 26. Senator Ted Lieu, State Senator of California (right) being shown how to buy prescription drugs on Craigslist by the Director, Chris Bell (left). Chris Bell narrates, "In a state (California) with one of the highest rates of opiate addictions and overdoses in the country, Congressman Lieu, unlike a lot of other politicians, is actually trying to do something about it." Lieu replies: "For a long time we've had a war on illegal drugs. These are legal drugs that are killing far more people. And we need to have systems in place where we can identify someone that may be abusing these painkillers. The Cure system, for example, is a database that would let pharmacies and doctors know if a patient is going to multiple pharmacies and multiple doctors trying to get the same prescription medications." When asked if it was likely the same laws could become national, Lieu said, "As you know it's difficult to get things through Congress nowadays…" When asked about the marijuana debate, he replied, "Well, people are not dying from marijuana. People are dying from legal prescription drugs…" There are many other similar engaging conversations with medical professionals, politicians and researchers, so somebody familiar with the topic might learn something new as well. Senator Lieu certainly did. In the still above, Chris is showing Senator Lieu how to buy prescription drugs illegally on Craigslist. This conversation started when Chris asked why Craigslist started deleting prostitution posts, but still posts the illegal drugs postings. Senator Lieu confessed that he was not aware of this weakness in the system and he brought in the state police and started a motion to make such postings illegal soon after the initial talk with Chris. It was great to see that this film made a positive change that might help some people from dying from a prescription drug addiction. Title: Prescription Thugs Directed by: Chris Bell, Josh Alexander Writer: Josh Alexander Stars: Jeff Hatch Genre: Documentary Rating: NR Running Time: 86 min Release: 2015

• Prescription drugs are being given out like candy in this country and for what?

  rukstar692018-02-23

  This look into legal drugs (Prescription drugs) by film maker Chris Bell shows how money driven this country is. I am a proud American and I'll be the first to say how corrupt we are. Prescription drugs are being given out like candy in this country and for what? Yup, you guessed it....MONEY! These drugs are destroying people but money is all that matters. Chris will tell you his dirty little secret about his life during this film. I enjoyed it a lot.

• Everyone wants to blame the drugs instead of the idiots.

  einherjarjac2016-05-08

  Here we have a documentary blaming doctors and prescription drugs for the fact that there are stupid and reckless people out there who will mix ten different drugs without even knowing if they have interactions, or who will take 50 pills of something containing acetaminophen without even bothering to go online and do some research to learn that it is extremely damaging to the liver and is deadly. The solution, according to this documentary? Blame doctors and make prescription drugs harder to get. I have used drugs for recreational purposes many times in my life and have been addicted to pills at times and to alcohol for years at a time and I can tell you from experience, alcohol is 1,000 times worse than benzos or opiates, UNLESS YOU'RE STUPID ENOUGH TO BE DOWNING ENTIRE BOTTLES, AND TAKING THEM IN COCKTAILS YOU NEVER EVEN BOTHERED RESEARCHING! I mean jeez, cant we just blame stupid here? It ticks me off when people like my father, who has rheumatoid arthritis, are having to fight with their doctors all the time and be put on excruciating "drug holidays" all because of documentaries like this and the people who agree with them. Chris Bell made it sound like these drugs were easy as can be to get from a doctor; yeah, if you've got 6 figures in the bank because you're a pro wrestler, UFC fighter, etc. Not to mention that nearly all of the anecdotes he heard from these people were regarding their doctor-shopping behavior from several years to a decade or more ago. For the normal patients in the year 2016, most of which actually need the drugs, these drugs have become incredibly hard to get at doses high enough to do anything or duration's long enough to treat chronic pain. But guess what? The reckless, too-dumb-to-research-the-drugs-on-the-internet abusers and addicts can still get it online, on the street and from clandestine laboratories. But go on, blame the doctors and blame the drugs. Never mind that nearly every person he interviewed here was so knuckle-draggingly dumb and that even the majority of people who do abuse these drugs don't die or wind up in serious trouble precisely because they are not as kuckle-draggingly dumb as these idiots. I mean come on, the guy who had a stroke was talking about taking 90 pills a day, including several that were of the same class and two in high quantities that both contained acetaminophen! That level of stupid can not be blamed on anything but stupid!