Pain Hustlers viewers are curious about whether the Netflix film is based on a true story and if the fictional characters in the film are based on real people. Here is all you need to know.
Is Pain Hustlers based on a true story?
Yes, Pain Hustlers is based on a true story documented in Evan Hughes’ 2022 non-fiction book of the same name.
Evan Hughes’ non-fiction book Pain Hustlers was in turn based on a 2018 New York Times article that was titled “The Pain Hustlers”. Both Hughes’ book and the New York Times article tell the narrative of a start-up pharmaceutical company in Arizona called Insys that marketed a fentanyl spray named Subsys for pain management. Hughes’ book additionally covered how Insys unethically sold Subsys by hiring attractive sales representatives in order to bribe medical practitioners into prescribing Subys to other doctors via “speaker programs.”
The film alludes to the fact that Insys’ speaker programs were a cover for medical practitioners being bribed by Insys to prescribe the highly addictive Subsys to patients who did not need it. This is evident by how Zanna used Liza Drake and other sales representatives’ attractiveness to prescribe Lonafen to patients who did not need it.
Are the Pain Hustlers characters based on real people?
Not all Pain Hustlers characters are based on real people. Liza Drake is an original character while Jack Neel and Pete Brenner are based on real people.
For instance, the main character Liza Drake (Emily Blunt), is an original character in the film created by David Yates. To make up for her absence in the original article and Evan Hughes’ book, Yates gives her the backstory of a single mom with a daughter who suffers from a brain tumor, which motivates Liza to raise money for her treatment and complicates her connection to Zanna, based on Insys.
However, Zanna’s founder Jack Neel (Andy Garcia) is based on or inspired by Insys’ founder Dr. John Kapoor. Pete Brenner (Chris Evans), Liza’s colleague, seems to be based on an Insys sales manager, Alec Burlakoff.
For more Pain Hustlers content, Here is ComingSoon’s interview with the film’s director and producer. Also, here is a new trailer for Godzilla Minus One.
