Yes, that is the name of a new documentary that hit theaters Friday, January 22. It is by a documentary film maker Chris Bell. While I doubt it has a wide release, the media will enjoy reviewing it and telling us it is a must see. The only preview I could get was a two minute trailer on You Tube. It may be an entertaining film and I did see Mr. Bell’s first film on steroids which was very good.

In that two minute trailer, the direction of Prescription Thugs was clear and unsurprising. The drug industry makes tons of money preying on naïve consumers. The pharmaceutical industry does not care about preventing or curing disease but likes to manage our diseases with expensive pills. We have become a society addicted to painkillers, anti-depressants, ADD drugs sold to us by big Pharma using advertising and high pressure sales tactics. Sounds like a familiar theme already done by Michael Moore and others.

Maybe all of us should find work in an industry that is more loved. It is getting tiring hearing how evil we are peddling expensive and unnecessary treatments. The media hates us but loves our ad dollars. The left wing politicians cannot wait to punish us for the crime of providing lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, normalized blood sugar, cures for hepatitis, management of HIV, etc. Somehow drug makers deserve to get their due for years of screwing the public. Bernie or Hilary will make us pay for the years of thuggery. Iranian missiles, North Korean nukes, and ISIS seem to be less of a threat than drug ads and high prices.

Calling us thugs and enemies is sure to solve the cancer cure mission that President Obama just highlighted in the state of the union. I am sure in some Hollywood fantasy Matt Damon will play a government scientist who finds the cure for cancer. In the real world, Hilary and Bernie will have to count on their enemies in the profit making drug world to develop cures.

Documentaries like Prescription Thugs will be seen by few regular Americans, but cited by many industry critics for its revelations. Given the political focus on drug prices, DTC, and rising insurance premiums, we are sure to get a black eye from the negative publicity. I can see the film maker appearing before Congress, along with the usual drug industry haters to testify how the profit hungry corporations must be subjected to price controls and shorter patents.

If you are getting tired of getting hammered by the politicians, the AMA, the mainstream press, consumer activists, insurers, and your friends and relatives; then maybe we can all do something better for society. After all curing disease may be over rated. Maybe we should just let someone else do it, and hope it plays out like a Hollywood screenwriters’ fantasy.