Netflix “The Pharmacist” is a Louisiana Crime Documentary

Netflix “The Pharmacist”, is a Louisiana crime documentary and it looks fantastic. What would you do if a drug-related shooting was the reason your child was killed and the cops didn’t help? A pharmacist in Poydras, Louisiana took it upon himself to find his son’s killer in 1999. Then he took it a step further. He decided to gather evidence against a “pill mill” doctor in New Orleans and fight a Big Pharma company that was making more addicts out of young people. Young, seemingly healthy people started visiting his pharmacy with high dose prescriptions for OxyContin. The Pharmacist, Dan Schneider, sensed a crisis way before the opioid epidemic had nationwide attention. Dan knew he had to try to save their lives.

Schneider explains that his son, Danny, was a good kid who lacked direction when he was in his early 20’s. He and his wife, Annie, had no idea that their son was an addict, and wished they could have helped him. The first episode lays out their family story and also has interviews of people from the Lower 9^th Ward, a drug and violence community.

I am always interested in a gripping crime documentary, to be local adds another level of interest to it. The opening shot is an aerial shot of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.   It was released this week and it’s on my to-do list this weekend