Liza Drake, a single mother working as a dancer in Florida, receives a job offer from Pete Brenner at the failing Zanna pharmaceutical company. Liza lands a job there, despite lacking the qualifications mentioned on her forged resume. She aims to promote their drug Lonafen but initially fails until persuading a doctor to prescribe it. Zanna’s sales soar, but issues arise: Liza is asked to promote the drug for off-label uses, and her daughter Phoebe needs costly surgery. Matters worsen as she discovers ethical misconduct at Zanna and her association with criminal activities.
Liza decides to testify against Zanna, leading to the arrests of the higher-ups, including Pete and CEO Neel. During the investigations, she discovers incriminating emails that implicate Neel. Subsequently, the truth about Lonafen’s composition is revealed, leading to fines and prison sentences for several involved. Liza is sentenced to 16 months in prison, but upon release, she starts a cosmetics business with her mother and ex-colleagues from Zanna, moving on from her past but occasionally reminiscing about it in her dreams.
* * *
[Woman] Throw the first stone. Sure.
But this is my story, and I did it for the right reasons.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. [chuckles] Listen.
I’m not gonna soft-pedal what we did. And by “we”…
You know, I’m not gonna name names, except for Liza Drake.
[Pete] Are you talking to her?
Okay. Well, what you need to remember is that, you know, we’re not Purdue Pharma.
We didn’t kill America.
This is 2011, and strictly speaking, we weren’t even part of the opioid crisis.
You know, Lonafen was never a street drug.
But, you know, people hear “fentanyl” and, you know, they lose all fucking perspective.
“Ooh, you sold fentanyl?”
Like, I’m El Chapo or something.
You wanna know who did fentanyl?
Your mother. And let me tell you, it saved my bacon when Liza, like, blew out my pelvis with her giant baby head.
Liza Drake?
[sighs wearily]
Well, she invented me.
On the one hand, there were times I wanted her to die in a plane crash, and other times where I wished she would die in a slower, more painful way.
Look, the thing about Liza is, she didn’t give a fuck… about anybody.
And in that way she was like family to me.
[cell phone ringing]
[Liza] What do you want, Randy?
[Randy] I wouldn’t antagonize me, Liza.
Why not?
I’m trying to keep this amicable for the sake of my daughter.
“My daughter.”
Love how you say that. Really makes it sound like you showed up. Ever.
What are you talking about?
What the fuck?
Bring Phoebe back to Savannah yesterday, and I’ll give you every third weekend.
[Liza] Why? Phoebe doesn’t want that. You don’t even want it.
Up here she’s got a beautiful home on a half-acre lot with beach access, and you got… a car.
Take me out of it.
Ugh.
Are you at a bar?
Not really.
Liza!
I gotta go, Randy.
Liza…
[“Mamasita” playing]
♪ Too lit for the front Come through the back door ♪
♪ What they mad for ID they never ask for ♪
♪ I’m a real nigga and a bad jawn ♪
♪ Can tell by my walk I might put on a show ♪
♪ I bet they watch From a distance for sure ♪
♪ Make the right move And I might take you home ♪
♪ Don’t ask permission I get what I want ♪
♪ No time for no other ♪
♪ Until we get it right ♪
♪ Turn me on like a Cali fire ♪
♪ I’mma meet you in the moonlight ♪
♪ Can’t wait to get you ♪
All right. Wait, wait, wait.
So where are we?
God damn it, Pete.
One script.
Hundred mics.
My fault.
Hundred mics!
Shouldn’t have picked up the phone.
It’s one fucking script, what’s the big deal, Jimmy?
A hundred mics!
I know it. Take it light, now.
Jimmy!
Come on, man.
[Pete] You gonna call me tomorrow?
[Jimmy] Not likely.
Fuck!
Hi, there.
[sighs]
I’ll save you the trouble. I’m not in the mood for a lap dance.
Me neither, I just had to get off that stage.
Still not gonna pay for a lap dance.
Still not selling you one, dude.
Wanna play a game?
Wanna play a game with me? Just one game. Bet you ten bucks I can peg you.
Well, you can try, but… fair warning. I wrestled in high school.
[chuckles]
Okay, so… if you’re in this shithole, you’re not finance.
I’d say insurance, except your Ferragamos are too nice.
So I’m guessing cars.
Or you’re a drug rep.
[Pete] She had a gift for reading people.
She can make you feel very seen and understood in this very powerful way, and then 45 minutes later, you’re out two grand.
All of a sudden, before I can start pounding him, he does this, like, whole thing.
This whole move.
And he’s got his head in between my little 13-year-old thighs, and he starts going, like, fucking…
[mimics chomping]
[chuckling]
Like fucking Pac-Man.
And I realize this mild-mannered deacon is trying to, how shall I say, bite my fucking dick off.
Your dad tried to bite your dick off?
Oh, it wasn’t like that. It was like a fucking… foster guy.
That is… awful.
It’s a terrible story.
Well, [sighs] there’s a happy ending.
Knocked couple teeth down his throat before he got the goods.
[Liza] Yeah?
Sir!
Listen.
I’m sure some asshole says this every shift, but I can take you out of here.
Take yourself home in one piece, we’ll be good. Okay?
Destiny! Phone call.
Gotta go.
Gotta go.
Listen, listen, listen. I like you. Okay?
Come work for me.
[Liza chuckles]
I’ll put 100k in your pocket this year.
Really?
Yeah.
[man] Hey, phone call!
If I’m lying, you can kiss me anywhere you want on this perfect body.
Destiny, phone call!
[school bell rings]
[Liza panting]
Oh my God, what happened?
Mom, I’m so sorry.
It’s okay, baby.
No, I’m sorry.
What happened?
It was stupid, and now they’re gonna kick us out.
No one’s kicking you out.
We’re good. Oh my gosh, what happened?
I’m sorry, Miss Drake, but if this isn’t an expulsion-worthy offense, I don’t know what is.
What’s the offense, exactly?
[scoffs] Take your pick.
Bringing illegal fireworks into the school.
[Liza] Okay. Sorry. Just to clarify, those weren’t technically fireworks or illegal.
I bought ’em at Circle K.
[principal] It’s not the point.
Your daughter endangered the safety of every student in school.
[Phoebe] Shoot, okay.
Can I push back?
I feel no other kids were in danger. They were across the street.
They weren’t on property.
Let’s take it from there. Leaving school without permission.
[Liza] Yep. Sure did. And I looked it up in the discipline code, and you could let that go with a warning if you wanted to.
[principal] Or five-day suspension.
Oh my gosh.
Do you wanna do one day?
Which, I think, still seems harsh, but I’m good to close there.
[siren wailing]
[fire truck horn blares]
[Liza] Sorry about that.
It’s all right, girls. Keep your heads up.
[indistinct chatter]
[engine sputtering]
[tires screech]
Three days?
I know. She was gonna kick ’em out.
It’s a good result, you know?
It’s a fucking nightmare.
Who’s gonna watch them?
I mean, don’t look at me.
No one is looking at you, Jeff.
Dude, as a matter of fact, could you please…
Lis, it’s fine. It’s gonna be fine. Okay?
They canned me for walking off my shift, so I’m gonna be around.
Wow. That was fast, even for you.
You insult me and fucking belittle me…
Can I just point out you said one week? It’s been two months.
I’m so sorry for the wear and tear on your garage couch. All right?
And I won’t even mention the money.
You just did, so. You’ll get your cash.
All right? You’ll get it.
Wonderful. Great!
How?
Soon!
[Jackie] It just so happens, Andy, that your sister and I are about to do very well for ourselves.
Oh, cool. Cool. Um…
Webcamming? Or identity theft?
Liza has invented something to market my skincare products that is so cool.
So smart. So creative.
Please don’t, no.
Oh, I will because it’s amazing.
It’s an app.
And it’ll have a gizmo thing where you take a picture of your face and you upload it.
Analyzes your skin type, and it curates a regimen of Mom’s products. It’s pretty cool.
[Andy] Wow.
You must have spent hours on that.
[Liza] I did, actually.
And the tech is so much bigger than cosmetics.
It’s like interior design, it’s telemedicine.
[Andy] Wait, you’re a tech genius now?
Liza, your life is on fire.
Go fuck yourself, Andy!
You know what? Get the fuck out of my house!
Fine!
[Andy] I’m done! I’m just done!
She doesn’t mean it.
[Liza] She does.
No…
[Andy] Pack your shit, Mom. You’re next.
[“Here I Go” by Dante Mazzetti playing]
♪ Carry on with me ♪
♪ Through the cold ♪
♪ Through the old ♪
♪ If I dance ♪
♪ On the yes man’s bones ♪
♪ And I forget I’m not alone ♪
♪ To moonlight’s mark ♪
♪ To the light that wounds the dark ♪
[Liza] Oh God.
♪ To the powerful night ♪
♪ To sunshine losing the fight ♪
♪ Here I go ♪
Hi.
[woman] Hi.
♪ Here I go ♪
Come on, babe, it’s okay.
♪ To the windy beat ♪
♪ To the careless tripping feet ♪
♪ That do not know ♪
♪ Which way they go ♪
♪ To the broken hearted ♪
♪ To the dreams that never started ♪
♪ To standing still ♪
♪ To those who never will ♪
♪ Here I go ♪
[indistinct conversation]
…probably would’ve put us in jail.
But then my mom…
[Liza] Hey! Phoebe…
That’s my mom. She Jedi mind-tricked her.
So it’s just suspension.
Wow.
Bedtime, sweetie. Let’s go.
Yeah, this is Sidney.
Uh, he works on boats.
He fell off a boat and broke his arm.
Okay.
Yeah, among other achievements.
Hi, I’m Camille.
Y’all moving in?
Yeah. Yeah. Just down there.
[Camille] Okay. Uh, you know what?
I have something for you.
[Liza] Oh, hi.
We met the notorious Phoebe who torched the school, so.
[Liza] Well, just the woods.
Well, they gotta burn down every now and then.
Cycle of life, right?
[Sidney] Yeah.
Welcome to D-Block.
[Phoebe] Oh.
[Liza] Thank you.
Oh, is it… Is it noisy around here?
[Camille] A little bit.
Okay.
[chuckles]
[Phoebe] Oh.
Nice.
No, it’s okay.
Yeah, I got a blanket. Thanks, though.
It’s a quilt.
[Liza] We can’t take your quilt, thank you.
Take it.
She’s kind of on this Robin Hood kick right now, and she thinks we’re the rich.
Okay. Sure.
Sure. Take it. Thank you.
Okay, yeah.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Hey, thanks for these.
Yeah, thank you.
[Liza] Say thanks.
[Phoebe] Thank you.
Nice to meet you.
Knock if you need anything.
Anything for a juice, this one.
[all chuckling]
Bye. Ow!
All right, baby.
Thank you.
Shove it right in there!
You feel good?
Yeah. You?
Yeah.
All right.
[blows raspberry]
[Liza] You want some movie salad?
[softly] Okay.
[softly] Pass the remote.
[sighs]
[TV playing]
[muffled chatter, laughter]
[muffled rap music playing]
[Liza breathes deeply]
[softly] I will not give up on myself.
I will not give up on my dreams.
I will make my life count.
[Liza] Hi, Mr. Brenner.
This is Liza Drake.
Uh, it was my pleasure to make your acquaintance, uh, yesterday.
Hope you’re feeling all right. Um…
[mouth clicks]
I’m calling about the employment offer that, that, that you offered yesterday.
Um, so if you want to call me back at this number, that would be awesome, be wonderful. I hope you have a really wonderful day.
And…
Okay, bye-bye.
[tires screech]
Mmm.
[car door opens]
[woman] Yeah, hi.
[car door shuts]
[knocking on door]
[Liza sighs]
[door closes]
[sighs] Momma.
[Jackie chuckles]
Oh, you’re gonna get through this. Yes.
Yes, you will.
It’s who you are.
[Pete] Look, it’s not about money.
I mean, it is, because you’re gonna be backing the biggest IPO of the year.
So what’s it about?
It’s about after you retire and look back, you’d be able to say, “I wasn’t just… a banker.”
“I was a hero.”
If it’s such a terrific medication, why is your market penetration under 1%?
Because we don’t have the money to compete.
This is Praxiom.
They own the breakthrough pain sector with a fentanyl lollipop that is so toxic and ineffective, it’s our moral duty to horsefuck ’em.
This shit rots your teeth and takes 45 minutes to kick in.
Lonafen takes five.
We come on like the Navy SEALS.
And when your bones are on fire from cancer pain, those five minutes are a godsend.
But your Binaca blaster thing, it’s fentanyl, isn’t it?
The stuff that killed Ohio?
No. The Hartigan study out of Mass General puts the risk of addiction and overdose at less than 1%.
$35 million, that’s Zanna’s current debt level?
[Pete] Actually, $80 million down was current.
All from the pocket of this guy, Dr. Jack Neel, pharma’s fuzziest billionaire.
If you consider a market penetration forecast post IPO of 22, maybe even 26%…
[Pete] Soon to be bankrupt thanks to this fine-tuned hard pass factory, our CEO, Eric Paley.
We’ll say a market floor of $1 billion.
As you’ll note in our SEC disclosure, our efforts to educate prescribers face challenges in the areas of, uh, capitalization…
[Pete] Brent Larkin, VP of marketing, a backstabbing snake hired for his bionic ability to make you wanna buy the opposite of whatever he was selling.
We spent the last year fighting for a promotion to COO.
The marketing spend of $10 million could achieve an adequate level of acceptance from physicians, patients, third-party payers to make Lonafen profitable.
[man] Listen, I’m sorry.
It doesn’t matter if that thing squirts liquid Jesus.
Nobody’s prescribing it.
At this point, Doctor, the way that you get whole is to sell that patent to someone with a war chest to break into market.
[cell phone ringing]
Sorry.
[woman] Right?
Who’s that?
She’s a sales lady from J&J. Excuse me.
Wha… Uh, are we not under a hiring freeze?
Mr. Brenner, Liza Drake.
Hi, listen, I’m sorry just to show up.
I did try calling…
The address isn’t on the card.
I called the secretary of state, and they pulled the corporate files.
I thought about it. I’d like to take you up on your offer.
You got a résumé?
Yeah!
Come on.
Only two years of high school?
Well, I left to pursue a career in sales.
Cutco? Steak knives door to door?
Yeah!
It was other kinds of knives too.
Mm-hmm.
Amway, Avon, Mary Kay.
Mm-hmm.
President of Green Rock Enterprises. What’s that?
Uh, the model was to upcycle biocharred hog waste into a sustainable drywall product.
It was pretty cool.
You made sheetrock out of dried pig shit?
Almost. Yeah.
You own a restaurant in Savannah? How’d that pan out?
It’s doing good.
It’s doing solid numbers for my ex.
[quietly] Come on, Mr. Brenner, give me a shot.
Give me a shot, please.
[quietly] Come on. Give me a shot.
You got a Word file of this?
Yeah.
Here you go.
[“Eyes on the Prize” by Mavis Staples playing]
♪ Paul and Silas began to shout ♪
♪ Doors popped open… ♪
Bio… cum laude biochem… Well, you… I don’t…
PhD. Come on. I barely got my GED.
Come on.
God.
♪ Hold on ♪
♪ Hold on ♪
♪ Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on ♪
Hey, Pete, can we talk?
Come on.
Excuse me.
Dr. Neel!
Sorry. I’d like you to meet Liza Drake.
Hi!
Hi.
I just read your Pharma Quarterly piece. It was, um…
I’m such a fan!
Very nice of you to say.
Nice to meet you.
Hmm. [groans]
[Liza] Oh.
All right.
The pleasure is mine.
Of course. Yes.
Well…
Is that your wife? Wow.
Beautiful smile.
[Jack] Yes. Thank you.
I suppose you know the story?
I would love to hear it from you.
Well…
Forty years we were married…
Wow.
…and Zanna was a breath of life for me.
She truly was.
Yeah.
But then she was diagnosed with liver cancer, and although I could accept that she would die…
the fact that she was gonna die not only in pain, but in fear of pain, that I could not accept.
So that’s why I developed Lonafen, so I can give other cancer patients the kind of help that I could not give my own wife.
Right.
Full disclosure, you’re gonna be joining a doomed endeavor.
Oh!
Yeah. No regrets.
If we must sink the ship, as it appears, all we got to do is aim it to an iceberg that we believe in.
[chuckles nervously]
In any case, I… couldn’t be in the hands of a better skipper than Captain Pete.
Thank you, sir.
[Jack] You’re welcome.
Well… I mean, here’s my résumé, if you want it.
We don’t need that.
[Liza chuckles]
Awesome. Okay.
All right.
So I’m in?
You’re in.
I’ll see you around.
Okay, boss.
You’re gonna do just fine.
Thank you.
Good work, Pete.
Thank you, sir.
You didn’t mention the iceberg.
He talks a little dramatic.
Just a soft quarter.
You were bullshitting.
What do you think? I’m in sales.
This wonder drug is morphine?
Souped-up aspirin?
Hold on.
Hey, Brent.
Hi. I’m Liza Drake.
Uh, Pete shoulda told ya, we’re under a hiring freeze.
Go tell Dr. Neel. She’s his hire.
Uh…
Pay is $7.60.
You cover your own travel.
You got one week.
One week to what?
Invent a doctor.
Invent a doctor. What does that mean?
Get a doctor to prescribe your drug. Just one script.
And if I don’t?
Then you’re fired.
Great, so zero job security.
the base pay’s half what I make temping…
Base pay is for shit birds.
Commissions get you into paradise. Know what we bill on a full-dose script?
What?
40 grand.
A year?
A month.
[cash register dings]
I can commission 48 grand a year on one patient?
Or half a mil on ten.
Is that real?
It’s up to you. You eat what you kill.
It’s a long-odds lottery ticket buried under a thousand rejections, and you gotta have the grit and the balls to reach down and scratch it.
I get it.
It’s your weekend. Don’t embarrass me.
[woman] Lonafen is a revolutionary medication for the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain.
A two-year independent clinical trial out of Massachusetts General Hospital conducted by Dr. Elliot Hartigan found that the risks for both overdose and dependency for patients using Lonafen were less than 1%.
Lonafen is the world’s first sublingual fentanyl spray.
It is applied under the tongue where the sublingual artery absorbs the medication into the bloodstream in just five minutes.
That’s the fastest relief a patient can get without a needle.
What are you doing?
When patients experience spiking pain…
Uh, it’s a drug rep chatroom.
“What are some tips and tricks for starting out in pharma sales?”
Okay.
“Dear noob, a low-cut blouse…”
No.
“…and a push-up bra…”
No!
“…has been the standard for the last 20 years.”
No! Stop! Stop it!
No, no, no, no!
You need to hear this. Okay? Um…
Oh my gosh.
“Go to the hospital’s drug closet, get naked and wait on your knees for the doctor…”
This is crazy. You are a child.
I don’t want you reading this!
No!
Stop.
Isn’t it funny?
“Gross doctor I’m selling to flirting with me…” Okay, we’re done.
Thanks. Leave it to Mom. We’re good.
[chuckling] No, give it…
Not for your eyes. Not for your eyes.
Don’t do that again.
Sorry.
Let me focus, okay?
Okay.
Pop the trunk.
[“Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” by Rose Royce playing]
What’s in the box?
[sighs]
[ball squeaking]
What’s that smell?
No, it’s spinach lasagna and apple slump.
I mean, the video’s just lunch and learn.
This is Pete.
Hi.
Shouldn’t you be in school?
No. I’m kicked out.
Suspended.
What for?
Arson.
It was not.
That’s pretty cool.
Where to?
♪ Or you ain’t saying nothing ♪
♪ Put your money where your mouth is ♪
♪ Or you ain’t saying a damn thing ♪
♪ Talk is cheap ♪
♪ That’s right, honey ♪
[Pete] Lakeland Pain Clinic.
Lair of the one Dr. Nathan Lydell, $9 million man.
That’s how much he wrote for the competition last year.
Oh, wow. Sketch-a-rama, jeez.
That, my friends, is the $9 million man.
Guys, here’s the deal. It’s safer than aspirin.
And because it works faster, you can reduce other pain meds.
So they’re not so zonked out all the time.
So they can be here, be present, right? “It’s a gift.”
“It’s a blessing.” That’s what we’re hearing.
From patients and their families. How about it, Doctor?
Incredible.
Well, if you got some patients in mind, we can leave some coupons. Circle back…
No, this stuff. What’s it called?
Apple slump.
[sighs]
Knock-knock.
[Dr. Lydell] Hey, she’s alive.
Did you not get my call?
Oh, Nate. I am so sorry.
We were on a work retreat to Turks and Caicos, but next time, you are coming with me.
Come on, I have so much to tell you about.
Let’s go to your office.
[indistinct conversation]
I thought the pitch went well.
Doesn’t matter. Praxiom owns him.
Why? ‘Cause she got macaroons?
[mouths] Fuck you.
Because she reminds him of a girl he used to jerk off to in high school, except now he holds the cards.
Your grande double Snickers latte. I’d like to talk about Lonafen again.
It is the fastest-acting breakthrough pain medication.
It is five minutes, the onset…
I will get back to you.
45 minutes faster than Xeraphen. Dr. Bowen, you’re missing out!
Dr. Chen’s all booked today.
Could you please just show her the clinical trial, please? Please.
Or I can just leave her with some of these.
I mean, we have so much fun stuff here. I love these pens. They’re so hilarious.
Where are you from?
Zanna Therapeutics.
Want some for your kids?
No, I mean, don’t you know the industry banned this stuff years ago?
Dr. Lanning, I was wondering, sir, if I could pitch you…
[woman] Good morning, Doctor. Oh, he’ll be just a moment.
Okay.
Thank you so much for waiting.
All right.
It’s okay. You tried.
She’s horrible.
Yeah.
Pheeb?
Pheeb, are you good?
Yeah, why?
You were staring.
Oh.
[indistinct chatter]
What’s up, girl? Hey.
Hi.
Sorry. So…
[clattering]
[woman shrieks]
Oh my God.
It’s all right. She’s okay.
It’s okay. She just needs some space. She’s fine.
[nurse] Is there anything I can get you?
It’s okay. She’s just having a seizure. She’s fine. She’s okay.
It’s okay, honey. Look at Mom.
Look at Momma. It’s okay, baby.
I got you. I got you. I got you.
It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.
So, Phoebe, you got something going on?
Yeah, I got epilepsy going on.
Well, epilepsy is a general diagnosis
for “Phoebe’s gets seizures, but we don’t really know why.”
I know why. This guy.
That’s a tumor.
It’s not a tumor. It’s not cancer.
Uh, we call it AVM, arteriovenous malformation.
It’s a little tangle of blood vessels, and when the blood backs up, it swells, and you get a seizure.
So, what do we do?
Well, I’m hoping nothing.
This thing’s small and looks stable, and sometimes childhood AVMs get straightened out during puberty.
Ugh, gross.
Um, what if it doesn’t?
We’ll probably need to get him out.
Option A, which is a fine option, a full craniotomy.
[Liza] I.e., cut open Phoebe’s skull and scoop out the not-a-tumor with a melon baller.
Or option B…
…is a keyhole procedure, where we go in through the nose.
Lower risk, minimally invasive, we don’t have to retract the brain…
[Liza] The only hitch, the non-melon baller option wasn’t covered by Medicaid.
And they don’t cover the keyhole option, the radiation, or the post-op therapy.
But for now, unless there’s another seizure, dizziness, headaches, I don’t need to see you for six months.
Meantime, Phoebe, I want you getting plenty of rest, staying on top of your meds, and Mom, do what we can to keep things calm and stable at home.
[rap music blasting]
[engine revving]
It’s not forever. It’s two months max.
I’ll get a decent job, an apartment.
Two months?
It’s gonna be awesome. It’s gonna be great.
[mimics ape noises]
What are you doing?
Sorry, I thought we were making meaningless noises.
I’m trying to do what’s best for you…
Best for me? So you want me to live with evil people.
Your dad’s not evil. Come on.
Yeah, well, Diana is.
She’s fine.
No, she’s not fine, Mom.
You know what? She says evil stuff about you.
Yeah? What’d she say?
She…
What does she say? Say it.
Say it.
She says that you’re… you’re a loser and a… leech, and that you don’t know how to be a mom.
What an asshole.
[line ringing]
[phone ringing]
God. Hey, Pete.
Hey!
I’m looking at the iPad GPS.
Want to tell me why you’re 30 miles outside your territory?
Something came up and, um…
I got through the whole call sheet. Nothing. So…
Thank you for the opportunity. Want me to put the iPad in the mail?
No, no, unacceptable! I paid for five days…
It only took four to get turned down by every whale in the state.
Well, then you get turned down again! Okay?
I own you until five o’clock!
I’m taking Phoebe up to her dad’s in Savannah.
Well, luckily, Savannah is not going anywhere!
You are holding the bag until five o’clock, or I will incinerate your fucking life!
I will drag your ass through small claims court. I will…
Hello?
[Phoebe] What are we doing?
[Liza] We’re just gonna cool out for 12 minutes. All right?
Why?
Because, so I don’t get sued.
Just chill, baby, please.
Okay? Please.
Okay.
[Phoebe] Oh, hey, it’s Dr. Sketchball.
Keep the doors locked.
[Dr. Lydell] No, this is a circular conversation that I’m getting really tired of having.
This is what I keep saying. The prenup is airtight on spousal support.
Where is she getting 40%?
Just… Just… No. Nope.
Lucky lady. My ex took the business.
Hey.
It’s apple slump.
Don’t worry.
I’m not gonna pitch you. I came for my Tupperware. That all right?
Yeah? Okay.
Yeah.
[Kate] Baby. If you don’t tell him about the side effects, I will.
[Matt] I don’t want to get into it.
It is what it is.
Hey, Matt, what’s new, man?
The mouth sores are new.
[Dr. Lydell] It’s okay.
Nothing’s okay. He can barely talk.
He walks around like a zombie all the time because he’s always sucking on this lollipop and it never works. He’s always in pain.
[Dr. Lydell] Sounds like we should think about stepping down the Xeraphen dosage.
That might be a good idea.
[Matt] Can I just get outta here, please?
Are you in pain? The mouth sores…
[Matt] No!
[Dr. Lydell] Hold tight. One sec.
Excuse me.
Don’t get the question.
I accidentally overheard you. Why didn’t you help him?
What’s your name again?
Liza Drake.
All the complaints, the mouth sores, the onset time, is exactly where Lonafen would be better.
I’m not trying to sell you. I’m done with it.
It just makes no fucking sense to me.
Why is nobody willing to prescribe a better drug?
Why? I don’t understand.
Listen…
Liza, the truth is,
you can’t just switch patients every time there’s a new medication.
Xeraphen is a known quantity.
Known to be terrible. She just told you.
I don’t know that Lonafen is different.
You won’t even give it a shot.
Excuse me…
What are you talking about?
[Dr. Lydell] It’s chemically identical to what you’re already taking, but… the onset time is purportedly faster and should help you with your mouth sores.
Yeah, I don’t know.
[Matt] I didn’t.
All I knew was I was scared, all the time.
And I’m not a frightened person.
I was a Navy corpsman, by the way.
Greenside in Iraq.
I saw some things, got through some sporty situations, but I was never afraid.
Never had a bad dream.
But when I got sick, bro… I was in mortal fucking terror.
[Matt] To keep that hurt from sneaking up on you, you get to where you want to stay juiced up all the time.
[boy] Mom… can we please get something to eat?
Lobby now.
But, Mom…
Lobby… now!
Yeah, okay.
Okay?
We’ll have to start you back at 100 micrograms and see if we need to titrate you up from there.
First couple weeks will be rocky.
[upbeat music playing]
[Eric] All right, everyone.
Obviously, we’re all looking at the same numbers, so you probably already know what I’m about to say.
But the point is…
No.
Okay, well, to bring down overhead through this next little stretch…
Nice power suit. What’s up?
Nothing.
I just… got a script.
Who?
Dr. Lydell in Lakeland.
Wow.
[Brent] Bullshit.
I did.
Check it.
[Catherine] Checking it.
100 mics. Big fucking deal.
That is a big fucking deal.
That’s my nine million-dollar man, and Liza got him pregnant.
Think he’s pregnant?
I think he’s pretty pregnant.
He told you explicitly he’s gonna write more Lonafen?
He said he wanted to join our speaker program, so I said, “Great.”
You said we had a speaker program?
No, I said Dr. Lydell’s gonna launch our speaker program, and it’s gonna be amazing.
Speaker programs are pharma’s dirty little secret, minus the little and secret.
What’s a speaker program? It’s where you fly prescribers to Hawaii, Pebble Beach, and if you’re doing it by the book, you get some asshole to speed read a slide deck so everyone can get back to hitting on drug reps and getting drunk.
And then they fly home and they write your drug.
It’s a legal grift, and everybody was doing it.
And we would have too.
But we were broke.
Hotels, flights, catering.
Who’s gonna book it? Kathy gonna book it?
It’s Catherine.
I don’t think it needs to be a fancy boondoggle.
He drives a PT Cruiser, going through divorce, and lonely.
He’d be psyched to hold court at a taco stand.
No fucking way.
[sighs]
[cash register ding]
[Brent] The issue with this right here is that these floors are warped.
So it’s probably gonna take a curve up in here, and then…
[Liza] I have an idea.
What if fuck Brent Larkin?
Love that? How?
We do the event on the cheap, pay for it out of pocket.
Nah…
Why not?
I don’t want my dick on a chopping block.
I mean cheap-cheap.
We kick in, like, 400 bucks apiece.
A ten-point commission on $9 million a year.
Dumbass doesn’t get any of it.
Come on.
I don’t know.
What don’t you know?
As a wise man once said, it’s a lottery ticket.
He’s got to have the grit to scratch his balls.
[Brent] Look at that panel. You’re gonna hear that nice ding.
You’re gonna hear it ding.
I like you.
[golf ball dings]
[Brent] Oh!
[laughs] Whoo!
Good.
[dramatic music playing]
Hey!
Saved you a seat.
Where are the doctors?
Half of them couldn’t make it, and the rest are no-shows.
Oh, fuck!
What about Lydell?
Well…
I was gonna call him and tell him not to come, but since he’s your kill, I’ll give you the pleasure.
No. We are holding this event.
Liza, us shitting the bed and rolling around in it is the event.
We got the room, the food!
Yeah, and a sign-in sheet that has to have prescribers’ names on it.
Or we get a visit from the Feds.
[dramatic music playing]
Hi! Is anyone here a doctor?
I’m a podiatrist.
He’s a quack. I’m a podiatrist.
Do you want to have some ribs and wine with me?
I think I do.
Yeah? You too?
[man laughing]
Leeza. Hey, Leeza! I thought we were gonna hang out! Come on!
I’ll be right there.
Hey, where you going?
I am so sorry, Liza. There was a wreck on the 4.
No problem. No problem at all.
Did everybody leave?
Dr. Lydell, I understand.
Listen. Hey, how is Matt?
Who? What? Who’s Matt?
Your patient. Is Lonafen working for him?
What?
How is he?
Come on. Tell me.
I saw him yesterday. [exhales]
He said, “Doc, I oughta fuck you up for not switching me six months ago.”
[Matt] No bullshit.
That stuff did just like she said.
Gave me my life back for a minute.
Are you gonna take him off it now?
I won’t take advice from someone who threw a speakers’ program nobody attended…
It was a shitshow. I understand.
Listen, you deserve a big event. Huge, huge.
Other doctors need to hear you speak.
Those guys?
Not those guys. They’re podiatrists. The industry.
The industry… needs to hear that even though Praxiom think they own you, like they own everyone else in the state, you wrote what was right for your patient.
I wrote your drug.
What else do you want from me?
Come on.
I want to know how to get doctors to write the best drug. How?
And get paid?
Goddamn right. It’s how the market should work.
It’s rotten right now.
Help me change it.
Come on. Help me change it.
How?
I don’t know.
It starts with some cold ribs and some shit-faced podiatrists.
[Dr. Lydell] I said, “I’m not pre-diabetic.”
“I just want a colonoscopy.”
[all laughing]
[Liza] That was it. Market penetrated.
[“Closing Time” by Semisonic playing]
♪ I know who I want to take me home! ♪
Yeah!
[whooping]
♪ I know who I want to take me home! ♪
♪ I know who I want to take me home ♪
♪ Take me home ♪
[laughing]
♪ I know who I want to take me home ♪
♪ Take me home ♪
[sighs] And I see the outline of this guy’s toes on the windshield.
Mm-hmm.
Put my foot up there.
And it didn’t fit.
[Pete clears throat]
And so I knew. I knew she was gonna marry the guy.
Aw. So sorry, Nate.
[Liza] By the way, I did nothing illegal.
Pete took care of that.
We’ll scale your fee according to your clinical experience.
My clinical experience?
We can give you $1,500 per speaking engagement, three per week, if you switch all your Xeraphen patients to Lonafen.
[Dr. Lydell] Best friends!
[Liza] Ok!
[Dr. Lydell] ♪ Friends forever! ♪
You get home safe.
No, you go home.
[Liza] We’ll see you soon!
You go home.
[Liza] Okay, bye!
Everyone’s gonna go home now.
[Liza] What the hell was that?
[whoops]
We just harpooned Free fucking Willy!
$4,500? Is that even legal?
67 in a 65.
Everyone else on the road’s doing 80.
We just launched the best cancer pain med the world’s ever seen, so who gives a fuck?
But if they’re that good, why do we have to pay him?
If we don’t, someone else will.
Big pharma’s about finding that gray line, getting close without crossing over.
What happens if we go over?
You get a speeding ticket. A fine.
It’s baked into the marketing budget.
We don’t have a marketing budget!
We will! Jesus Christ, Liza!
You just saved the company!
You’re gonna help thousands of cancer patients!
Three weeks ago, you’re working at the titty shack, and now you’re a pharma legend!
Be happy!
I’m happy! Yeah, yeah.
It was fun! Told you cheap would work.
Right?
Get home safe.
Okay, you too.
[Phoebe] Give me the meatball. Come on! Come on. Come on.
Come on. Hey, batta batta!
Come on, Sid!
[Sidney] Laura’s up, you got a shot.
[groans]
[Phoebe] I’m sorry!
[Camille] Sid!
Sid, you okay?
Sid?
No! Oh, is the bone sticking out, girls?
Can you see? Can you…
Sayonara, sucker! [laughs]
Oh!
[Sidney] Double play!
[Phoebe] Oh!
You are such a jerk, Sidney!
[Phoebe pants]
[mouthing] Are you okay?
Fine. Fine.
Hey!
[Phoebe] Hey! Whoa!
Dude!
What the fuck?
Look. Fucker’s writing Lonafen like his hand’s on fire.
Holy shit.
400 mics.
Six hundred. Eight.
Guy switched 40 patients in three days.
Oh my God.
So…
What? Why?
Come on.
“Rookie of the year.”
Think of me when you pawn it.
I’m not gonna pawn it.
Pete, this is really…
Can you open it?
Yeah. There you go.
This is really…
Wow.
You’re not gonna make 100k this year.
It’s gonna be more like 600.
[sentimental music playing]
It’s weird, right?
You happy?
What’s going on? Something wrong?
Well, whatever, a deal’s a deal, right?
Gonna let you kiss me anywhere you want.
Although fair warning, clinical trials have shown a very high addiction rate.
Thank you.
[Jackie] Fuck.
[banging at door]
Ugh, what?
[banging continues]
Hi, Mom, your car crapped out.
[Jackie] Liza. Wow.
It’s yours.
No.
Yes.
No, I can’t.
Sell it. Buy a moped. I don’t care.
Take it.
It’s quite… Liza!
Take it!
Oh, my…
Oh, Liza. My…
You happy?
Oh my God, yes.
That’s too… Oh, thank you!
Get your ass in it!
Oh! Thank you! [giggles]
It’s so shiny! [chuckles]
[car lock beeps]
With interest.
Hey, I…
[Jackie] Okay.
How are you making this kind of money?
Well, it’s a 10% commission on total net sales. So, that’s how…
So you just walk in off the street, and all of a sudden, you’re…
Start bringing pain relief to cancer patients in agony.
Is that a problem?
Is that a bummer?
Be happy.
[Brent] You two are fucking voided.
You are roasted on a goddamn spit.
All right.
Grab your shit and go. Seriously.
Grouchy Gary.
Meany bear.
I expressly forbade you from hosting a speaker program.
Why do you hate speaker programs?
What I hate are insubordinate shitheels who’d risk the reputation of this company.
This company has no reputation ’cause you never risk shit.
You can’t just fucking do this! You need a compliance team to vet the speaker…
[Pete] Let’s hire one!
…who might be a pill mill operator with the DEA up his ass!
Lydell’s not running a pill mill.
And you’d know if you ever actually carried the bag.
Fine! Wait for Dr. Jack to throw you out a window when I tell him what you did.
What we did, Brent, is $200,000 net this week
with one fucking doctor.
Not to distract you from getting us fired.
No, no, no. I mean, obviously, these numbers are encouraging.
I need to think about how to position the program with the boss.
You mean how to take credit.
We told Jack. He’s cool with it.
Okay.
Yeah, we’re greenlit to pilot the program in the southeast.
We’re staffing up.
Check it out.
[upbeat music playing]
Want to tell us a bit about yourself?
Yes! Pre-med at UF, Phi Beta Kappa.
Interned at Merck. I was a Pfizer junior leader there.
Yes.
No.
Says you got your pharmacy degree from Amherst.
I didn’t know they had a pharmacy school.
Yep. One of the best.
Remind me. What’s their mascot?
Excuse me.
It’s okay.
What’s your story, for real?
[Maria] All right. For real.
[chuckles nervously] Um…
Out of school I sold tires… for minimum wage plus commission, which my manager kept.
Um, I did that for ten years, quit, and now I do the same sort of shit selling shower doors.
Um, CPAP machines, hot tubs…
Parakeets, essential oils, these pump-up penis things.
Body shots. Lap dances.
My own dignity.
Why do you want to sell pharmaceuticals?
When the child support is late, my kid doesn’t eat.
So I can stop lying to my kids about what I do for a living.
What makes you think you can close a doctor with our drug?
It’s a best-in-class medication with one-tenth the onset time of the competition.
Because, for a 10% commission, I’d eat flaming razor blades.
Because I’m banging an oncologist in Plant City.
I did field marketing for Malibu Rum, and I was Miss Hawaiian Tropic, Pensacola.
Hell no.
Sweet Jesus, yes.
Come on.
Because my dad’s a pain doc, and he said he’ll write your drug if you hire me.
[Liza] 67 in a 65?
Welcome to the team.
Hell to the motherfucking no.
You can hire the sex toy if I can hire my mom.
You’ll regret it.
So will you.
Dr. Jack’s rule.
PhDs only.
Well, none of them are PhDs.
“Poor, hungry, and dumb.”
In your case, the “D” stood for “desperate.”
[Liza] What you do today… informs who you’re gonna be tomorrow.
You got to work it like your fucking back’s against the wall.
You don’t just work the territory, you own your territory.
Okay? You own your territory.
You own a territory, you own a doctor.
You own your territory, you own a doctor.
[all] Own a doctor.
You own your territory, you own a doctor!
Own a doctor!
Own a territory!
You own a doctor!
[Liza] We lived or died by the clinic gatekeepers, and there’s nothing a 50-year-old desk nurse hates more than a young hot thing half her age pulling twice her salary.
Look, lady, I need to know when I get to see the doctor.
Hey, Sonya. How are you?
Good to see you.
Hey.
[Liza] Greasing doctors is an art, not a science.
Every drug company’s trying to put money in their hands.
You can’t just throw checks at ’em. They all think you’re wearing a wire.
I’m just not quite sure…
[Nicole] That you can trust me?
[scoffs]
Doctor, I have two mortgages, three kids, one with special needs.
If you join our speakers bureau, you would be my partner and my lifeline.
I will walk through fire to protect you.
[cash register ding]
[woman] Thank you for sharing, Doctor.
[Liza] And never forget.
Always hire a rep with versatility.
[moaning]
[Jackie] Hey, come with me? Just this first time.
Nope, it’s time to spread your wings, little bird.
You got this.
[Liza] And while our blue-chip competitors were fighting over the marquee MDs at the Mayo Clinic…
Dr. Davis?
Jackie Drake from Zanna.
…we were going after the guys Pfizer wouldn’t toss a free pen.
How you doing?
Well, I’m… doing especially well right now, thank you.
And without that platoon of desperate reps, we’d have never hit our gold mine of desperate doctors.
Thank you all for coming.
[cork pops]
[Liza] The real education at our events was us learning the doctors were just as greedy and horny as everyone else.
[“I Like to Move in the Night” by Eagles of Death Metal playing]
What made us different?
I’d tell my reps, like, don’t treat your doctor like a sale.
Be family to them. Be a friend.
[Liza] We’d pick ’em up at the airport. Walk their dogs.
Sit through a folk-rock serenade if that’s their thing.
They needed us.
So real and thick.
It takes some getting used to.
But I like it.
Yeah?
I like the way it makes me feel. I walk a little faster, little taller.
[Liza] Got a skip in your step.
Fancy seeing you here.
Smells great.
♪ She got the shakes Yeah she shake it real cool ♪
♪ Yeah, she make me start a-dancing Now she makes the rules ♪
♪ Oh, yes! Yeah! ♪
♪ You know we move, yes we move ♪
♪ ‘Cause we like our dancing, oh yes ♪
♪ You know we move, yes we move ♪
♪ ‘Cause we like our dancing, uh yeah ♪
[Liza] 67 in a 65.
I mean, maybe we pushed it to 70, but that’s what it would take to storm the castle, to get the best-in-class medication to people who needed it.
It wasn’t pretty, but hey, we won.
In one quarter, we’d gone from zero to 86% market share in the southeast.
[all cheering]
Own the doctor!
[all] Own your destiny!
[all cheering]
[mouthing]
[Liza] And even if we won dirty, at the end of the day, our medicine was reaching the people who really needed it.
What’s remarkable? On Saturday, I said, “Kids, we’re gonna do something.”
“Mommy is out of pain.” We went hiking, if you can believe that.
I couldn’t.
[nurse] The doctor will see you now, Sidney.
[Liza] Everyone was happy. Well, except the competition.
[Liza] Mmm.
Feel good about yourself?
Stealing my doctors?
Feel great getting cancer patients off your toxic lollipop.
You think you’re big shit, huh? You’re a joke.
Everybody’s laughing about your off-brand speaker programs you’re holding at the nudie bar.
Almost as funny as your programs that are banned ’cause you’re crooks.
That just means we can devote our entire marketing budget to destroy your little peon asses.
Y’all woke the dragon.
Dragon’s in the marketing department?
He’s in the butt-fucking department.
Ooh.
And he’s gonna love you.
[Liza] Can’t wait. Hi, Dr. Lydell!
Enjoy your macaroons.
Have you been using that elliptical?
Sure bet.
You look so good.
Working my way up to a 5k.
[Liza] And if you’re wondering why Praxiom didn’t just win back their prescribers with better programs, more money, they couldn’t.
[Laurene] Pain is pain.
Arthritis, post-op…
Pain is pain, people. And at…
[Liza] The Feds had nailed their asses for off-label marketing, aka, paying doctors to prescribe fentanyl, not just to opioid tolerant cancer patients, but to whoever, for whatever.
Headaches, hangnails. “Here, have some fentanyl.”
So how’s the law protecting you from these scumbags?
They’re not.
Praxiom didn’t get shut down.
Nobody did a day of jail time.
The judge hit ’em with a standard fine, and they banned them from greasing doctors… for five years.
[upbeat music playing]
Oh my God.
[Phoebe] Wow.
I could be comfortable here.
[chuckles]
[Phoebe] Well, it’s two stories, and I do have my own bedroom now.
[Randy] The company condo? You’re still paying rent, though?
[Phoebe] Yeah. I mean, big picture, though, my closet is bigger than my old room.
We have a fizzy tub, by the way, and my new best friend is the Gulf of Mexico.
[Randy] Wow!
Hello. [chuckles]
It’s cool, right?
[Randy] Yeah, it looks great.
Uh… Say hi to Mom.
Hi.
[Randy] Hi.
Oh my Lord.
Oh my gosh.
All right, come on.
[Phoebe] Can you believe this place?
[Liza] Hi.
[laughs] Thank you. Wow.
Mmm.
We use the wool for textile arts…
[Liza] Mmm.
…and the manure works wonders for our gardenia glade.
Where do I sign?
[chuckles]
I hate to ask, but we have 80 applications for five spots in the seventh year.
How much are you willing to pay?
Oh, I can pay full tuition.
[Liza] Money’s dignity.
Not having to beg for a break.
Can’t tell you what it meant to finally be one of those people you can’t shame, shake down, or fuck over.
Could you pay enhanced tuition?
What’s enhanced tuition?
Double.
Why would I pay double?
Well, the school took on some debt to buy the animals, so to keep the program, we’re having to reach out to our community.
[Liza] And then you climb a couple tax brackets, and it’s the same old grift, only for more money, and it smells like gardenias and alpaca shit.
Double it is.
Mmm.
[Liza] Hi.
[Jackie] Hey.
[Liza] Oh my God.
What?
Where there’s a popcorn tower, there’s you asking me to do something fucked up.
Oh. Ever heard of just being nice?
Sure.
I’m a little honked off about the speaker programs.
I know, they’re fucking gross and over the line, and after the IPO, we’ll bring them into compliance. All good.
No. I love the events, when they let me do one.
Mom.
But Pete’s been giving my speaker money to that girl who makes sales calls in her underwear.
You bonused 30 grand. You’re doing all right.
Tina boasts 125.
I have a really early meeting with Dr. Jack, and I need to focus.
It’s important I get my head around it.
Okay, even better.
Tell him that I think we should deduct honorariums from net sales.
Then I’d probably be, like, number one on my team.
Okay.
I’m serious.
I will think about it.
Thank you.
[Jackie] Hi!
[Phoebe] Hey.
[Jackie] You need help?
[Phoebe] I guess so.
Do you read French?
Your mom never asked you for a favor?
No. Dead.
Okay, your dad.
Him too.
God, Pete, I’m so sorry.
Don’t be. They would have been shitty grandparents.
They what?
Really? Would have thought she leaked it.
Tina’s knocked up.
So the moral of quarter three, $96 million in the Southeast.
The speaker programs work.
And if the 86% market share metric scales, which it will, implementing the speaker programs nationwide, we’ll be within spitting distance of a billion a year.
[chuckles]
Minus half a billion in fines for any kickback violations.
Uh, no, because, as Pete mentioned, post IPO we’ll be running the programs through a compliance team. Thanks.
Because compliance, ethics, that’s your thing, Liza?
Should be all of our thing, Brent.
[Brent] Yeah, it should.
By the way, I got this weird package from a Randy Drake, your ex-husband.
He wanted to correct a few things on the bio from your site.
You actually didn’t go to college, or finish high school, and before joining our team, you got naked for money.
Fucking give me that.
Hold on now! Hold on.
I’m guessing that’s how you two met.
And as far as your illuminated career in pharma… that you made up.
Unless you count your time as a drug trafficker, which got you a felony conviction in 2010.
I sold THC gummies.
Some to people in chronic pain, which I think actually…
[Brent] And you served three months, meaning you lied about the jail question on the application too.
Was that a… envelope slap on my desk?
I just thought you should know the truth.
Truth is you’re being disrespectful to that young lady.
Look at me when I’m talking to you.
I disagree, sir. I… I think…
[thuds]
[Jack] I didn’t ask you what your opinion was.
Liza Drake helped save this company.
Liza, I’m gonna promote you to national sales director.
Jesus, thank you so much.
Thank you.
I oughta bitch-slap you.
Pete?
Yes, sir.
You’re the new COO.
Thank you, sir.
Sir, I’m not gonna work under Pete.
[Pete] You know what, Brent?
I’m not gonna let you quit.
Pete, come on.
Not without telling you from the bottom of my heart… go fuck yourself, you goddamn snake.
You’re fired.
Fuck, Pete.
[Pete laughing]
Z-N-N-A. Guy Schatz is all in on Zanna.
Pharma company out of Florida, just owning the market for breakthrough cancer pain.
[all] Three, two, one!
[all cheering]
[“Money Is” by Little Richard playing]
♪ I got a PhD in how to make ends meet ♪
♪ I graduated from the college In the street ♪
♪ Inflation in the nation Don’t bother me ♪
♪ ‘Cause I’m a scholar… ♪
[Guy] Unbelievable. Cinderella three-day 400% gain.
These guys went from, “Who the hell is that?” to the number one IPO this year.
This is The Bullpen. Guy Schatz.
[all cheering]
[Liza] Pete and I were promoted again.
Him to CEO, and me to Marketing VP.
You slew Goliath!
[all cheering]
We’re the Golden fucking Horde.
[all cheering] Yeah!
We own cancer.
What do we do? We own cancer!
[all cheering] Yeah!
♪ The rich folks know what I mean ♪
♪ And money ain’t got no smell Let me tell you ♪
♪ How green can keep you clean ♪
♪ Money, money, money, money is… ♪
♪ Money’s on my mind ♪
[camera shutter clicking]
♪ Money, money, money moves me ♪
♪ I even like the money sign ♪
[Liza] Right after the IPO, just as things were looking really good, the pressures of success started to get to the boss, and he got weird.
All right, attention, everyone!
[table tennis ball clattering]
Look down around you.
Look at the floor and see how dirty it is.
You know how much it costs to polish this floor?
$80,000!
So from now on, at Zanna Therapeutics, we will be working with our shoes off!
Is it me, or is he losing his shit?
I think he’s keeping it in buckets in his house.
[Jack] Don’t look at me.
He’s a great man, don’t be respectful.
[Jack] Do you have ugly toes? Get a pedicure!
You have ugly feet? Wear socks!
Hey! Get your shoes off!
Get your shoes off!
[Liza] And the whole demented miser thing, it did not bode well for the plan to clean up the speaker programs.
Well, I think a compliance department is a needless expense.
Sir, a huge federal fine is a needless expense.
I feel compliance is a bargain.
[Jack] A bargain?
We built this company because we weren’t afraid to go in for the kill.
Goddamn right.
Sir, look, I just want to say, when Pete and Liza began this strategy of paying doctors for prescriptions, which, by the way, I did not sign off on, well, that was…
What? Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa!
[Pete] Open your pocket!
Fuck!
Fucking stop. No!
[Pete] Open this fucking pocket!
[recording playing] Paying doctors for prescriptions…
[Eric] All right. I can…
He’s got his shoes on!
[Pete] Snake! Get the fuck outta here!
All right! I’m going!
Get outta here.
[Eric] I fucked up, okay? I’m sorry. I apologize!
It was just for me. For my protection.
[Liza] Paley swore he wasn’t ratting to law enforcement.
I love you, Jack!
[Liza] He was just paranoid that if the shit ever came down or somebody filed a whistleblower suit, he’d wanna be ready to file a better one.
So he was out and as miserable as a man can be… after cashing in $32 million in company stock.
[Eric] Yeah!
I fucking love my life! Whoo!
[siren wailing]
[panting]
[woman squealing]
[crowd exclaim]
[woman] Fuck it!
[man] Yeah!
[all cheering]
[“Turn Down for What” by DJ Snake and Lil John playing]
♪ Fire up that loud ♪
♪ Another round of shots ♪
[blows whistle]
[all cheering]
♪ Turn down for what? ♪
♪ Turn down for what? ♪
♪ Turn down for what? ♪
♪ Turn down for what? ♪
[inaudible]
♪ Turn down for what? ♪
[all chanting] Chug, chug, chug!
Hey, Ryan. Are you shitting in the sink?
[Ryan] That’s a complicated question.
[splashing]
[“Play” by Alewya playing]
♪ Rraa She know me, know me ♪
♪ Kraa She hold me, hold me ♪
♪ Don’t mind if I play ♪
♪ Just something I want to feel with you ♪
[Pete] Oh shit, I almost forgot.
Your options contract.
$6 million at close.
Probably be 20 when you sell.
I don’t need 20. I’ll just take six.
[sighs] Well, can’t sell till you vest.
What the fuck is vest?
Never mind. Whatever it is, I’ll do it.
It’s when you’ve been with the company for a year, so, six more months, you can sell.
Just launched the IPO of the year, you don’t know about options?
Yeah, I don’t know shit.
This is a goddamn moment right here.
Shit on, laughed at.
Thinking you’re not gonna get there, and then you fucking get there.
Rich?
[Pete] Safe.
I feel the same.
Good. I’m glad.
No, I mean, I don’t feel any different. I feel just the fucking same.
What is it? What? What’s up your ass?
Don’t you sometimes wish that we were here ’cause we done something remarkable, something meaningful, and not because everyone’s a greedy piece of shit?
Ever think that?
What do you want me to tell ya?
Fix the programs.
Can I see your tits?
[Liza] Oh my God.
Sorry, that came out wrong.
I’m married.
Come on. You’re making it weird. Stop.
[Pete] You know, I really love you. Just…
Stop this. Stop.
Is there any version of this where we end up fucking?
Never. Never.
[Pete] Okay.
[door opens]
[man snoring]
Jack.
You’re leaving me?
[whispers] I’m gonna get us some coffee.
Relax. I’m joking.
Thanks for last night. It was really…
It was really nice.
Oh…
Oh… My putty tat is howling.
Do you have any cranberry juice?
Gross.
What? Is it so horribly shocking to find out your mother is a human being?
You know what’s horrible?
I’m finally being treated with respect for the first time in my life, and you embarrass me. But shocking? No.
[Jackie laughs]
You are such a tight-ass.
[sighs]
It was fun.
I don’t want to know.
Till he started crying.
[Liza] I don’t know if it was a direct result of him fucking my mom or what, but right after our victory party, the boss got even weirder.
[guard] Phones in the bag, please.
[guard 2 clears throat]
Handbag.
[metal detector beeps]
[metal detector warbling]
Shoes.
♪ My heart is cold, my soul is free ♪
♪ I am a stranger in your land ♪
♪ A wandering man, call me sand ♪
♪ Oh sir, my fire is very small ♪
[dog yips]
[dog growling]
[clears throat]
Can I get you a drink?
Yeah, whatever you’re having.
Oh, you don’t deserve to have what I’m having.
The fuck is going on in Birmingham?
What’s happening in Birmingham?
Our man in Birmingham.
[Liza]
Dr. Frazier?
Dr. Frazier.
You know how many scripts Dr. Frazier wrote last week?
No.
[Jack] Four.
You know how many he wrote this week? Four. You see the problem?
Our sales are flat. F-L-A-T. Flat. You’re fucking killing this company.
Sales are flat at $170 million a quarter ’cause we won cancer.
If you don’t grow, you die. Where’s the growth?
In other markets with other medications.
Lonafen is another medication!
The doctors don’t know it because our messaging is fucked!
Our messaging?
There are millions of people out there in agony, suffering from kidney stones, and fibromyalgia and post-operative pain.
And we’re telling our doctors, you can’t treat ’em unless it’s cancer?
Why cancer?
The FDA only approved Lonafen for opioid tolerant cancer patients.
I hear you. I think Dr. Neel’s point… Liza.
What?
What Dr. Neel is saying, and it’s an excellent point, is that pain is pain.
Thank you very much. That’s exactly it.
Pain is pain.
[inaudible]
So we’re gonna get Lonafen approved for kidney stones? Is…
[upbeat song playing]
You’re not fucking saying that we’re going off label.
Can you excuse us so I can have a conversation with Liza?
Yeah.
Sir, you cannot message, “pain is pain.”
You cannot push this drug off-label.
[Jack] Liza, Liza.
It is not…
[yelling] Liza! Liza! Liza!
That conversation is over.
[exhales]
How’s your apartment?
Very nice.
Are you comfortable?
Very. It’s gorgeous. We’re very grateful.
[grunts] There’s something I gotta show you.
[whispers] Oh, fuck.
I got this from…
My mom.
Your mother.
She has sent me three of these.
Oh God. I’m so sorry.
You violated our HR process by hiring your mother.
And that…
How?
How? [scoffs] ‘Cause you hired your mother.
And you didn’t clear it with me.
You have to get rid of her.
And you have to take responsibility that she never contacts me again.
And… you’re gonna get her signature on this.
When do your options vest, Liza?
In November.
[Jack] In November.
You can go now.
[Pete] Pain is pain!
[all] Yes!
You know from your doctors we’ve done wonders with cancer patients.
What about migraines? What about post-op pains?
They should just suffer?
[all] No!
[Pete] Fuck that.
Fuck cancer.
Pain…
[all] Is pain!
[Pete] Pain…
[all] Is pain!
[Pete] Pain…
[all] Is pain.
[Pete] There it is!
[all cheering]
[Liza] I need you to sign it, please.
So sorry, please just sign it.
All right?
[Jackie] All right.
No. What?
This…
That doesn’t make sense. What did I do?
Dr. Neel didn’t love your, um, popcorn towers.
Oh, fuck him. I was trying to be nice.
Really? Out of the goodness of your heart you thought, “That demented billionaire would love Cracker Jack. I’m gonna do it.”
What’s wrong with that? No.
Everything.
Liza, you weren’t helping me with my bribe money, and I thought…
Jack would put in a word.
Oh God.
Did you ask Dr. Neel for more speaker money?
What is wrong with you?
It’s the least he could do. What’s it to him?
No. What’s it to me? What’s it to me?
I put my neck out to get you this job, and you embarrass me.
You embarrass yourself.
Really? I fucked the boss in front of the whole company?
Don’t be nasty.
I’m not being nasty.
I am the one person, Liza, the one person in your life who stuck by you.
When everyone else was all “Crazy Liza blew it again,” I held my tongue.
Did you?
I said…
You thought I was a loser too?
No.
And you just lied about it?
Is that your big fucking triumph as a mom? Good for you.
No, I’m saying I… I stood by you!
I gave my life for you girls.
Mom, come on. You gave us to Meemaw and PopPop so you could cruise the Intracoastal with the dude of the week.
Give me a break. Come on, you know you did.
When did you become an ingrate?
You’re… Oh God.
You would have none of this if it wasn’t for me.
You know what? Okay.
Name one thing you ever taught me beside, “Get your ass hitched young and squeeze out a kid so he won’t leave you.”
Name one thing you ever did for me. One.
I made you a survivor.
I survived you, Mom!
I’m here because of me!
[paper rustling]
[Jackie sighs]
Come on, babe, we gotta scoot, okay?
[reporter] …shows that Americans are downing massive amounts of prescription pills.
[dishes clattering]
Look at this. Right now, seven million people in this country use prescription drugs for…
[Phoebe] You okay?
Yeah. Okay.
Okay.
Get your backpack. We’re gonna go.
Let’s go.
[engine revving]
[cell phone ringing]
Yeah.
[Pete] Dr. Jack’s spitting fire.
Wants to know why we’re not seeing Lydell’s off-label scripts.
Because I’m only just now getting to the clinic. Okay?
Bring your phone and conference me in. I’ll back you up.
I know how to talk to my own prescriber.
Then don’t fuck it up!
[Dr. Lydell in German] You give me your word?
Okay, Daddy, I love you too. Okay, I love you…
I have to go. Someone’s here.
[in English] Didn’t know you spoke German.
I am German.
Came over when I was six.
Wow. How’d I not know that?
Maybe because you’re not all that interested.
What? That’s not true. Why would you say that?
[chuckles]
Are things good? Is everything okay?
Why wouldn’t they be?
I don’t know.
What do we got?
Mostly filets and prime rib.
[camera shutter clicking]
[Dr. Lydell] You doing okay?
[Liza] Yeah. I… [clears throat]
Just a little stressed, I think.
Come here.
No, I’m okay.
Bring it in.
[Dr. Lydell] Mmm.
Well, I feel better.
Great.
Can we go inside?
Sure.
Wanna tell me what’s going on with you?
Um… There’s something I need to discuss with you, between us if that’s all right.
Please. Anything.
[cell phone chimes]
What is it?
Um…
They’re wanting us to… lean on prescribers to write Lonafen off-label.
Ah.
I had to put it out there, but I’m happy to say you refused.
Did I say that?
No. But it’s…
Then don’t put words in my mouth.
I’m not…
You know better than me… that you can’t be writing Lonafen for migraines or whatever.
Where’d you do your medical training again?
What’s going on? I’m just looking out for you.
By asking me to abandon my professional judgment and defer to yours?
That’s not what I’m saying.
I want a rebate… of 25% gross on all the off-label scripts I write.
Will that work?
[suspenseful music playing]
Stop it.
[Matt] It’s not about pain… fentanyl.
What it does, it releases the same neurochemicals a mother feels the first time she holds her own baby.
I mean, that feeling is literally why humans exist.
So for me, the off-label thing came at the perfect time.
[boy exclaims]
[Matt] The doctor just found out that my cancer was in remission… which I hadn’t told him so he’d keep the Lonafen flowing.
If anything, the pain’s getting worse.
I guess neuropathy from the chemo.
So let’s keep you on the Lonafen if it’s working for you.
[Matt] For one thing, it was making my days on the car lot a lot easier.
Mr. Jorgensen…
[“Medicated Goo” by Traffic playing]
You ever get tired of smiling?
Uh… No.
You will if I send you home in that Elantra.
That’s a Toyota.
Same thing.
♪ Pretty Polly Possum What’s wrong with you? ♪
♪ Your body’s kinda weak and you think There’s nothing we can do ♪
♪ Good golly, Polly, shame on you ♪
♪ Cause Molly made a stew That’ll make a new girl out of you ♪
♪ So follow me, it’s good for you ♪
♪ That good old fashioned medicated goo ♪
♪ Whoo, ain’t it good for you? ♪
♪ My old homegrown recipe Will see us through ♪
[Balinese instrumental music playing]
Hey!
Ben… they’re supposed to take two steps back.
And they’re only taking half a step.
[man] No.
Cinda, we’re not doing this today.
It’s our final rehearsal.
[phone vibrating]
We’re on in ten.
[Cinda] Or something like half…
Hey, you want to tell me why Dr. Frazier in Birmingham just wrote two Xeraphen scripts?
[Nicole] It’s okay, they didn’t even get paid.
The patient had some vouchers.
No, you don’t get it, Nicole. Okay?
They’re penetrating our market. They’re hurting the share price.
You need to fucking fix this.
[man] Okay. Back to one.
Pheeb! Hey!
Do you understand me?
[man] Hey! Excuse me, Miss Drake!
I don’t know what’s going on.
Oh my God. Oh my God.
[muffled] Step back.
It’s okay. It’s okay, step back.
It’s okay, baby. It’s okay, honey.
It’s okay, breathe…
Look at me, honey.
It’s okay. That’s it. Can you guys step back a bit? Thank you.
That’s it, baby. That’s it. Just breathe.
It’s outpouching another three millimeters since your last visit.
I’m afraid we can’t wait until December.
I think the procedure could wait two weeks?
I wouldn’t wait for it.
[Phoebe retching, coughing]
[Liza] Oh my God, baby.
Phoebe, you gotta keep these meds down, babe, okay?
You need to try and keep them down.
I’m not your fucking employee.
I’m not…
No, don’t yell at me!
Stop. I’m not. I’m not.
It’s okay. Okay.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry, baby.
[Phoebe crying]
[engine revving]
So I saved what I could. I got about 235… $239,000 cash.
Sure, and the size of the loan?
$450,000. So, I was hoping that I could borrow against my stock options, which are worth close to $15 million.
Almost certainly more when they vest in November.
Unfortunately, Miss Drake, pharma’s a very volatile sector, and from underwriting’s perspective, too much can happen in three months.
I’m really sorry.
[Liza] At that point, all I could think to do is get on my hands and knees to the one person who A, had the cash, and B, might like a nice fat favor to lord over me.
But then everything changed.
And the crazy thing is, none of us saw it coming.
Not us, and sure as shit not our doctors.
We’re all basically that turkey on the farm living their best life.
Every day, like every other day, eating a tasty dish of corn.
And after about a year, the third Thursday in November rolls around.
[Kate] You son of a bitch!
[Dr. Lydell] Oh fuck!
[Kate] Matt Elliston, remember him?
He OD’d this morning, and he would’ve died if the dog hadn’t found him face down in the basement!
Get the fuck off of me. I’m gonna sue your ass.
[Dr. Lydell] Get her out.
I’m gonna sue you.
Get outta here!
[Kate] I said get off of me!
[door closes]
Fuck.
[Dr. Lydell] Fuck.
I’m not writing you more Vicodin. You failed your pill count.
I’ve gotta have something, doc.
Jesus.
Put that away.
All right, let’s try something new.
You squirt it under your tongue.
It’s for cancer pain.
That mole on the side of your cheek, have you had it checked out?
No.
Well, it looks cancerous to me.
[man] Yeah.
[sirens approaching]
[siren wailing]
[“Closing Time Instrumental” by Semisonic playing]
[Liza] Excuse me.
You got Lonafen?
No, I don’t.
[woman] She’s got Lonafen!
I don’t carry the drug.
She’s got Lonafen!
I have cash.
[Liza] Holy shit.
I don’t carry the drug, okay?
[man] I’ve seen you here.
You have to wait for Dr. Lydell.
Step away from the car, please.
Step away!
[tires screeching]
It’s not good.
[Liza] It’s a calamity.
A disaster…
[Pete] Losing Lydell will pinch quarter three. No way around that, but we can offset the loss in scripts by refining our dosing message.
What?
That’s correct.
The model’s not sustainable with low-mic scripts.
The cheap doses were killing us.
Correct.
I think we go with titration next. Higher doses, higher commissions.
What about Lydell’s patients?
We’ll have to find them.
That’s what I’m talking about.
Where they’re going to. Get those doctors on our program…
I mean the dead ones.
[Pete] It’s not our fault.
No. From our lawyers, our patients are on such a high baseline of other schedule II’s, we can’t be solely implicated in this.
[phone ringing]
I got to take this.
Who’s that?
Didn’t I say no phones?
We huddle tomorrow.
Go over the messaging for the conference. Something fun. Something light.
Right?
Yeah?
[Liza] I figure we maybe had 24 hours before the company went down.
So I thought, what the hell?
You all right?
I need to talk to you about something.
What’s up?
My daughter, remember Phoebe?
Of course.
She’s not doing good.
And, um, she needs surgery.
Oh.
And insurance won’t cover it.
And I put aside as much as I could, but I need another 450 to pay for it.
I’m not asking for a gift.
I was just thinking I could sell you my stock options.
Before you vest?
What, you’re not thinking of leaving us, are you, Liza?
No.
[Jack] Mmm.
Her surgery’s next month though, and I don’t vest till November.
So, it’s a problem.
[Jack] Yeah. I see the problem.
But here’s the thing.
When my wife was dying, I was so benumbed with shock and grief that I didn’t realize that her illness brought with it a secret gift, a new sense of time, a creative fire.
Use your crisis as your fire.
You’d be amazed at what you’re capable of.
Well, you can start by running down those patients.
Crisis.
Fire.
Come on now.
Phoebe needs you.
[Liza] Hi.
Hi, baby.
Mom.
It’s okay. It’s okay.
[girl crying]
It’s all right, baby. It’s okay.
Just go to your sister, okay?
Just wanted to bring you back your…
Oh God. [crying]
I’m so sorry, Camille.
[melancholy music playing]
You didn’t do anything.
It’s not your fault.
You’re not a bad person.
[Liza] I will not give up on myself.
I will not give up on my dreams.
I will make my life count.
I will make my life count.
You should have a lawyer present.
[Liza] That’s fine.
I want you to know… that I helped build… our speaker program.
Our bribery program.
Tried to bring it into compliance.
Who else signed off on these programs?
Eric Paley.
Pete Brenner.
Jack Neel.
Oh, it all came down from Jack. I’ll testify to that.
[sighs] We need more than your testimony… because this is how this will go.
Neel will hire these incredible lawyers who’ll tell this sad story to the jury about a sweet old man who got taken in by a master crook named Liza Drake.
No, I came in as a low-level rep. He’s a fucking billionaire with a PhD.
Fair point. But if you don’t want to eat your boss’s share on this, we need proof tying Neel to the bribery scheme.
What kind of proof?
Documents. Voice recordings.
You don’t get it. He never touches the day-to-day and he’s… he hasn’t been in the office since the IPO.
You can’t get near him with a phone.
He has this guy, he has a guy with a wand thing…
Texts, emails.
Bring us something proving Neel’s involvement, we can deal.
He has a flip phone, he doesn’t email.
The way it works is you… I…
We would email… the CEO…
[Jane] Brenner.
Yeah.
And then Brenner prints a hard copy, and then Jack marks it up and…
Brenner gives us the gist of it and eats the original. I don’t know.
Can you bring us some of those printouts?
And we’ll tell the judge no jail time.
[Liza] Dr. Jack was right about one thing.
There’s nothing so inspiring as sheer desperation.
I wrote an e-mail to Pete saying I tracked down Lydell’s patients to 18 different doctors and that I needed a quarter mil right away to get ’em into the program.
I said they wanted golf memberships, college tuition bills, all sorts of things for Jack to have opinions about.
And Dr. Jack, bless his heart, he put his stink all over the document.
And Brenner, per my instructions, he brought it to our sales meeting, which was going down that night.
Okay, so this Patton guy.
Low decile.
Jack says no way to this college bill until he proves himself.
Nice tights.
Everything okay?
Yeah.
[Pete clears throat]
[snorts, coughs]
[coughing, sniffs]
Get out there and clap.
[audience cheering]
[upbeat music playing]
[rapping] ♪ You know my name And if you don’t, my name is Brenner ♪
♪ When it comes to clocking patients You know who’s the winner ♪
♪ We’re talking to prescribers And getting the perspective ♪
♪ Those low-dose scripts, man They simply ain’t effective ♪
♪ No one gets the pie And it hurts the bottom line ♪
♪ You want a full commission? Here’s the thing you gotta try ♪
♪ Titration, yo Peep the gains to the dose ♪
♪ 600 mics, titration’s gonna go ♪
♪ Titration, yo Peep the gains to the dose ♪
♪ 600 mics And our commission’s gonna grow ♪
[crowd] ♪ Grow! Grow! Grow! ♪
♪ Grow! Grow! ♪
[Pete] ♪ Grow! ♪
Listen up! We got a problem, y’all!
And it’s low scripts.
Low doses!
So starting tonight, double commissions on any scripts 600 mics and up!
Triple commissions on 1,600 mics!
[audience cheering]
That’s what I’m talking about. Y’all feel me?
[Pete] Liza!
Where are you going? It’s breakout groups.
Yeah, Phoebe’s sick, so, Nicole’s gonna take mine, okay?
Okay.
Okay.
Sorry, anything I can do?
All good. She’ll be fine.
See you tomorrow.
Thoughts and prayers.
Yeah, thanks.
Jesus, fuck.
Give me this shit!
What the fuck!
You appalling piece of shit.
When’d they get to ya?
I went to them.
Why would you do that?
Why would you do that, Liza? God damn it!
Remember where you were when I scooped you outta there?
I know.
When I gave you a shot?
I gave you a fucking life, and you do this to me?
Pete, we killed people.
Oh, bullshit!
We did this, and now you’re out there and you’re, like, bonusing higher doses.
We don’t write the scripts!
People are dead because of us!
Do you not get that? Do you just not care? What’s wrong with you?
You care? Funny how it took your whale getting busted for you to sprout a conscience!
Fuck you, dude.
What’d they give you?
Must’ve been good to get a greedy fuck like you to rat before you cashed out.
Oh, you don’t know me.
I am you, Liza!
We’re just selfish pieces of shit. Only with you, there’s no limit.
No, I’m nothing like you.
I hope you fucking die.
[Jack] Pete, we’re gonna contain this.
You just need to stick to a certain truth.
What does that mean?
[man] You’re implicated, Pete.
There’s no way around that.
Dr. Neel’s gonna handle your legal expenses. Look…
We’re gonna get you the most advantageous plea deal…
And meet my kid for the first time behind plexiglass?
No. No fucking way. I’m not doing that. No.
[man] Prison’s not on the table, but your assets, your house, your savings, that’s probably all going away.
Pete. Pete, I love you like a son. I’m gonna take care of you.
I’ll ensure that you and your family will be comfortable for the rest of your lives.
Your house, your cars…
[dog whining]
…college for your child.
You need to trust me.
[sighs]
If I testify that you knew nothing.
[Jack] It’s the best thing for everyone.
[banging on door]
[officer] Police! Open the door, sir!
Pete? Pete…
[baby fussing]
[banging continues]
[Liza] They even caught up with Eric Paley down in Argentina.
[man] You ready to talk?
Yeah.
Dr. Neel had no knowledge of the conspiracy.
[Liza] But not before Neel’s lawyer did.
[nurse] Miss Drake? Your daughter’s in recovery.
Is she doing okay?
She is. She did really well.
Baby.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
[sighs]
[Liza] And while everyone else was going down, Neel stuck to his bullshit, and no one could prove he was lying.
He was on the cover of Forbes.
When they asked him about the charges on everyone who’d touched the company…
My involvement?
I was an investor.
I had no knowledge of the daily operations.
I was a passive investor.
[Jackie] Please forgive me.
[Liza] I’m so sorry too.
[Jackie] Oh.
[Liza] I’m so happy to see you.
[indistinct conversation]
Hi, Meemaw.
[Jackie] Oh, hi, sweet girl.
How you doing?
[Phoebe] I’m okay. I’m just dandy.
Mom, when you were shaking down Jack Neel for more speaker money…
We seriously relitigating this?
No, no, no.
When you reached out to him, did you call him?
He wouldn’t give me his number.
Just his email.
Did you email him… directly?
How many times?
A few.
Did you save ’em?
[Jackie] “Should be aware that, for example, Tina Murphy got $8,000 in speaker money for Dr. Jacob, and I got 900 bucks.”
[Liza] Okay, okay. Go on. Keep…
[Jackie] “$22,000, Andrea Welch, who’s such a crappy rep, she needs all the bribe money that she…”
Did he respond?
Uh… Scroll.
[suspenseful music playing]
Mom… Oh my God. Thank God you’re so fucking slutty!
[grunting]
♪ Leave them lights as they are ♪
♪ And keep your clothes on ♪
♪ I’ve had more than my fill ♪
♪ Of whiskey and women ♪
♪ And good-hearted villains ♪
♪ But there’s a wickedness in me still ♪
[Liza] The headlines following Dr. Jack’s arrest were less than pretty.
They talked about Adrienne Jenkins, daughter, 22-year-old Lonafen patient found dead, toxic levels of fentanyl in her blood.
Emma Kowalski, mother.
Sam Walter, husband.
[interviewer] Wait, can I stop you there?
[Liza] Sure, what?
[interviewer] You yourself said the overdose risk was less than 1%…
According to the study.
The study?
The Hartigan study out of Mass General.
Elliot Hartigan. I authored the Lonafen study.
[interviewer] The study was false?
The study was accurate.
Out of a test group of 200 patients under clinical observation for two years, there was only one confirmed fentanyl overdose.
What they left out was that the drug was administered to opioid-tolerant patients by responsible doctors who weren’t being paid to crank the doses and addict people.
Not only that,
the clinical subjects were stage 4 cancer patients.
So before abuse became an issue, most of them were dead.
For non-terminal patients, they concluded that the risk of overdose and addiction were all incredibly high… because, um… well, pardon me, but no shit, it’s fentanyl.
Yeah, I… I trusted the study.
[interviewer] The cancer pain study.
And then you bribed doctors to prescribe Lonafen for headaches.
Yeah.
In addition to fines and restitution, Dr. Lydell, I sentence you to a period of 40 months.
♪ Young woman share your fire with me ♪
Sixteen months.
Thirty-six months.
♪ My heart is cold, my soul is free ♪
Sixty-six months.
♪ A wandering man ♪
[camera shutters clicking]
♪ Call me sand ♪
We wrote this statement… where I was gonna say how naive I was coming into this.
That how when I told my bosses… that things didn’t seem right… they said we’re playing by the rules, and that I believed them, and I went along with it.
I was supposed to say I didn’t go to pharmacy school.
It wasn’t me writing the prescriptions, it wasn’t my fault.
But that would be a lie.
I helped build this thing.
And I knew it was wrong.
The truth is, I wanted the money.
I wanted the respect.
And I wanted it so badly, I stopped caring how I got it.
And now people’s lives have been destroyed.
Am I sorry?
Yes.
But I did what I did.
On behalf of the government, I just want to restate the enormity of what this case has accomplished.
For the first time, top pharmaceutical executives are going to prison for their roles in the opioid crisis, and we couldn’t have done it without the cooperation of Liza Drake.
Therefore, we recommend no imprisonment to send an important message to people in her position to stand up and do the right thing.
[judge] I appreciate the government’s recommendation and Miss Drake’s contrition, which I do believe to be genuine.
But your greed cost lives.
You can’t erase it with cooperation.
This gives me no pleasure whatsoever, but you are going to prison, Miss Drake.
Please stand.
I sentence you to a period of incarceration of one year and three months.
[camera shutters clicking]
[Pete] Yeah. A lot of shame.
There’s lot of guilt.
Lot of stuff you can only work out with, you know, God.
But a thing can be two things at the same time.
You know?
There’s a lot of people that I could name that have gone through their entire lives without ever doing a fucking thing for anybody.
Yes… we hurt people.
Yes… we destroyed lives.
But we also brought people, suffering people, the best medication for cancer breakthrough pain the world has ever seen.
[interviewer] Really? You still believe that?
You sell what’s in your bag.
[Liza] I feel if you went for the eye invigorator and the pore refiner, that would be a good combo for you.
[woman] Let me try it?
A little on your hand?
Yes, please.
Feel how smooth that is?
Yes. Dab it?
Put it up there, and it’ll light you up.
It’s all natural, all made by hand, all by my mother, and she’s right over there in blue.
She’s 68 years old. Can you believe that?
This stuff works. It works!
[woman] I wouldn’t believe it.
Oh, he probably fathered half the kids in Tampa, but wow, could he sing.
You were married four times?
That one was annulled.
That’s kinda hot.
Oh, Ryan, no.
To me, it smell like a dead body.
But let me show you something.
This…
Hey, Nicole?
I’m gonna go grab some lunch.
Okay.
[Liza] You hold it down?
All right!
Feel this.
[Liza] The old life, I don’t think about.
Only sometimes… when I’m trying to fall asleep at night.
I’m gonna get a shot of Cuervo.
Got it.
Thanks.
I have those dreams that aren’t really dreams, where I’m running the company, I’ve pulled us back from the crooked shit, and people look at me like I’m somebody.
And it feels so good that it scares me.
So I sit up, and I turn on the light.
[rap music playing]
The founder of the pharmaceutical company who was convicted of orchestrating a kickback and bribery scheme involving opioids receiving his sentence today.
Well, John Kapoor, the founder of this company, will be going to prison for five and a half years, and it’s a sentence prosecutors hope sends a strong message to the pharmaceutical industry.
Out of pure greed, Insys executives from John Kapoor on down bribed doctors to prescribe this powerful, addictive drug to people who did not need it.
He was the founder of Insys, and joins a handful of other executives who are being sentenced and have been leading up until today.
♪ I even like the money sign ♪
♪ I’m so mean with the green I make a dollar wanna holler ♪
♪ Make a mark wanna bark Make a pound wanna frown ♪
♪ Money, money, money, money is… ♪
♪ Money’s on my mind ♪
♪ Ain’t no such thing as dirty money ♪
♪ The rich folks know what I mean ♪
♪ And money ain’t got no smell Let me tell you ♪
♪ How green can keep you clean ♪
♪ Money, money, money, money is… ♪
♪ Money’s on my mind ♪
♪ Money, money, money moves me ♪
♪ I even like the money sign ♪
♪ So mean with the green I make a yen wanna grin ♪
♪ Make a franc wanna clank Make a twenty look plenty ♪
♪ Money, money, money, money is… ♪
♪ The only thing that’s on my mind ♪
♪ My eyes start to blinkin’ ♪
♪ When I flash on some Lincolns Whoo ♪
♪ My mind starts relaxin’ When my pocket is full of Jacksons ♪
[melancholy music playing]
[melancholy music fades out]
[upbeat music playing]
[music fades out]
