Things are getting even more intense on Episode 5 of Dopesick. DEA agent Bridget Myers has her foot on the necks of Purdue Pharma and the FDA. She refuses to let up until they put restrictions on the medication and warn if it’s addictive characteristics. Like most women in the workforce, Bridget is experiencing sexism. Her supervisor suggests that she allows one of her white male colleagues to speak at the press conference because she comes across as too aggressive. Bridget realizes that if she’s going to win this war on OxyContin she’s going to have to pick her battles.
The Big Meeting
Her supervisor asks her to soften her approach when dealing with Purdue Pharma and her other colleagues. This time Bridget stands up for herself and lets her supervisor know that a certain amount of force is necessary to do her job well. Bridget crashes a big meeting between the pharmaceutical company owner Richard Slacker and the other DEA agents. Richard Slacker informs the DEA of the meager actions his company plans to take to monitor and control the distribution of Oxycontin but Bridget isn’t impressed. Bridget likens Slacker’s measures to slapping a band aid on a gunshot wound. By the time Bridget is done with Slacker, he’s looking like a child that has been scolded by his mother. Bridget’s supervisor has a change of heart after the meeting. He tells her that she’s doing a great job and lets her know that she has his full support. Unfortunately, Bridget’s war against the FDA and Purdue Pharma is negatively affecting her husband’s work. Bridget’s husband wants her to back off but she’s too deep in to do that. This ultimately has a negative impact on their marriage and leads to their divorce.
Alias
Purdue Pharma is doing everything in its power to prove that its revolutionary pain medication is safe to use. Maureen Sara is an assistant to one of the big wigs in Purdue Pharma. He tells Maureen to create a fake alias online to find out what people are saying about the medication. Maureen discovers several threads dedicated to teaching people how to break down an Oxy pill and snort it for the ultimate high. She reports her findings to her boss and he reprimands her. Later on, Maureen suffers an injury and her boss purposely supplies her with Oxy to get her hooked only to fire her for being an addict. Maureen agrees to become a whistleblower for Rick Mountcastle and Ramyser the U.S attorneys that are trying to build a case against the pharmaceutical company. However, Maureen signed an NDA while working for the company and she’s afraid of getting sued. The stress of testifying gets the best of Maureen and she ends up relapsing. Paula is the other former sales rep that the U.S attorneys are hoping to have testify on their behalf. She admits that the company is attempting to conceal how addictive the drug is but she’s afraid to testify because she believes that the company is having her surveilled.
All-New Lows
Both Betsy and Dr. Finnix are sinking to all-new lows because of their addiction. After two days of sobriety, Betsy finds herself getting high again after being sold drugs at a AAA meeting. Betsy stole her family’s precious jewels and pawned them for money to support her habit. When her parents confronted her she physically fought them and even torch the quilts that were sentimental to her mother out of anger. Betsy’s parents decide to commit her to an affordable rehabilitation center. Dr. Finnix finds himself traveling out of state to Kentucky and Tennessee to see other physicians about his back. The doctor lies about his back pain in order to secure an Oxycontin subscription. Things take a turn for the worse when he performs minor surgery on a patient while high and makes a big mistake. The patient has to be rushed to the emergency room for treatment. At the hospital, Dr. Finnix tries to trick the ER doctor into giving him an opioid prescription. The ER doctor suspects that Finnix is high and Finnix’s nurse Leah confirms his suspicions. The ER doctor has Dr. Finnix arrested. Fortunately, the judge goes easy on him and sentences Dr. Finnix to ninety days in a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center. Dr. Finnix seems to be doing well in rehab but we see just how far gone he is when he invites Purdue Pharma sales rep, Billy to visit him at the facility. He doesn’t apologize for attacking the rep but he asks him for samples of Oxycontin.
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