Based on actual events, Netflix’s film six-episode series chronicles the Sackler family’s formulation of the lethal opioid Oxycontin and the beginning of a global epidemic.

Directly or indirectly, we’ve all known someone afflicted with addiction. Some can overcome it, while others are ravaged by its effects and perish. Over a million deaths are attributed to opioid abuse to date, according to NPR. In the limited series Painkiller, 300,000 million of these deaths are due to the lethal narcotic OxyContin. Who do we have to thank for this vile, dangerous drug? The Sackler family, known as Purdue Pharma, is the medication’s creator and distributor.

The first episode begins with federal investigator Edie Flowers, played grippingly and powerfully by Uzo Aduba (Orange Is The New Black, In Treatment), on her way to meet with lawyers and investigators going after the Sackler family. Doubtful these new law officials will get anywhere, Edie tells the tale of her decades quest for justice for the Sacklers.

Arthur Sackler originated the drug Valium, which gained popularity in the 60s and 70s. Contemplating a new way to make money with a new drug as Valium sales were declining in the 1980s, the psychiatrist and drug marketer was at a standstill. Unable to bring a new drug to market with the same fanfare as Valium before his death, his nephew Richard Sackler was ready to swoop in and take the company reins. Richard Sackler, played smarmily, alarmingly indifferent, and delusional to the dangers of this new medication by Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, WarGames), is the real-life villain no one asked for. As the president of Perdue Pharma and the driving force behind the creation of OxyContin along with Arthur’s two brothers, Mortimer and Raymond, in 1996. The Sacklers would alter the drug crisis for the worse.

Determined to bring the drug to market at all costs, Richard Sackler seemingly bribes the FDA scientist approving the drug, knowingly aware of OxyContin’s dangerous ingredients (such as heroin). Besides introducing this new narcotic to the public, the Sackler family enlisted a young and charming sales force to coerce doctors to prescribe the drug to rural communities and eventually throughout the U.S. The series intertwines the effects of OxyContin through multiple narratives. The ruthless Sacklers, a relentless U.S. Attorney representative out for justice, a young sales trainee (West Duchovny, A Mouthful of Air, Vegas High) drawn to the lure of easy money, and a once thriving small-business owner (Tyler Kitsch, Friday Night Lights, American Assassin) battling addiction after recovering from an on-the-job accident and the subsequent damage that befalls him and his family and many others like him.

Created by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster and directed by Peter Berg, Painkiller is based on the book “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radeen Keefe. It’s an eye-opening TV series illustrating the devasting effects of this pill marketed to treat pain, resulting in an avalanche of destruction to those prescribed or introduced to the drug and the friends and family who had to witness the catastrophic outcomes. Not to mention, the Sacklers still face limited accountability from the Department of Justice today. Click here to stream Painkillers on Netflix.