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Poster for Prescription Thugs

Prescription Thugs

Is there really a war on drugs?

2016 · 1h 26m · PG-13 Documentary
Directed by Chris Bell

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Overview

Americans consume 75% of the world’s prescription drugs. After losing his own brother to the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse, documentarian Chris Bell sets out to demystify this insidious addiction. Bell’s examination into the motives of big pharma and doctors in this ever-growing market leads him to meet with experts on the nature of addiction, survivors with first-hand accounts of their struggle, and whistleblowers who testify to the dollar-driven aims of pharmaceutical corporations. Ultimately his investigation will point back to where it all began: his own front door.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
Fresh

Despite his casual aura, the filmmaker is eloquent and thoughtful.

Martin Tsai, Los Angeles Times
Rotten

Even before a "do as I say, not as I do" twist costs it all credibility, "Prescription Thugs" is a not very good documentary about a very important subject.

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times
Fresh

Engaging and enraging but also, alas, consistently superficial, it's a hot-button work whose easily digested nonfiction methods will appeal to mainstream documentary audiences, even if they also leave viewers hungry for greater substance.

Nick Schager, Variety
Rotten

It's unusually confessional and often moving, but Bell's film is unsatisfying as a piece of documentary journalism.

Chris Packham, Village Voice
Fresh

An accessible look at an important topic: the medicine that ails us.

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter

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