"Since OxyContin was introduced in 1996, Canada has recorded the second-highest number of prescription opioid painkiller addictions - and the world's second-highest death rate from overdoses. But how did this little pill become so big, so fast? In 1998, Canadian sales were just a few million dollars, but within 12 years they had soared to $243 million. In the U.S., yearly sales topped $3.5 billion. The marketing approach of manufacturer Purdue proved wildly successful. The fifth estate examines why medical schools, GPs and specialists in pain clinics readily embraced the drug at first, and why some have now changed their minds."--Container.

Originally broadcast on the television program The Fifth Estate on March 9, 2012. Subtitle from container. This DVD does not have scene selection.