Painkiller is an American drama television miniseries created by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. Based on Patrick Radden Keefe's New Yorker article "The Family That Built an Empire of Pain" and Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic by Barry Meier, the series focuses on the birth of the opioid crisis, with an emphasis on Purdue Pharma, the company owned by Richard Sackler and his family. It documents Purdue's aggressive and unethical marketing tactics used to promote their 'blockbuster' drug OxyContin, an extended-release formulation of the opioid oxycodone. The Sackler family has been described as the "most evil family in America", and "the worst drug dealers in history".
Painkiller premiered on Netflix on August 10, 2023.
Production began in Toronto in April 2021 and wrapped in November 2021. The series was directed by Peter Berg.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 54 critics gave the series a positive review, with an average rating of 6.0/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Painkiller honors the victims of the opioid crisis with effective dramatic beats but is undermined by its stale satirical flourishes, resulting in a tonally confused bit of muckraking." On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Writing for American Council on Science and Health, a pro-industry group, Cameron English criticized the series, alleging that it unfairly pins the blame for the opioid crisis on Purdue and the Sackler family.