Do No Harm

Based on the NPT three-part mini series, Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic follows author and director, Harry Wiland as he works to unearth the history and truth behind America’s rampant opioid crisis, and investigates how this crisis ballooned into an epidemic fueled by Big Pharma’s ploys, the medical community’s obliviousness, and policymakers lack of oversight.

The Opioid Epidemic is the worst man-made drug epidemic in the history of our nation. More people die each year from an opioid drug overdose than in automobile accidents. The statistics are staggering. Do No Harm spotlights experts, journalists, and public health crusaders who are combating the special interests of Big Pharma and informing the world on how an aggressive pharmaceutical mass marketing campaign for the new drug OxyContin misled doctors and the public into our current crisis of death and addiction.

Wiland highlights the stories of those hit hardest by prescription opioid addiction and overdose death, and sheds light on how whole communities have been ravaged by the spread of addiction. Despite regional health experts, local government, law enforcement, journalists, and the DEA’s efforts to combat the epidemic, people continue to die at an alarming rate from prescription drug overdoses.

The chapters of this book chronicle this opioid epidemic in all its complexity from many perspectives including the plight of the millions of Americans who suffer from opioid addiction. People, young and old on the rocky road to recovery, tell their harrowing stories, current victories, and on-going struggles with the disease.

Harry Wiland, Co-President and Co-CEO of Media Policy Center (MPC) (www.mediapolicycenter.org), with a MFA in Film & Television from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. He is the Co-Executive Producer and Director of the documentary film and public television series Do No Harm. Wiland has produced public television and multimedia forover 30 years. In 2002, with Dale Bell, he founded the MPC located in Santa Monica, CA and developed its media model. He has been the Co-Executive Producer and Director of all of MPC’s major productions. In 2006, Harry was elected as an Ashoka Lifetime Fellows (ashoka.org). He is currently working on Our Kids: Narrowing the Opportunity Gap, a new 4-part series for PBS, hosted and written by Harvard Professor Robert Putnam. Since 1981, Wiland has been a director member of the Directors Guild of America and, since 2003, a member of the Television Academy. He lives in Venice, CA. The goal of Do No Harm: The Opioid Epidemic is saving lives through education.

Peter Segall is a journalist, writer, and researcher. He is experienced with both field reporting and intensive research for long form writing. He previously worked on the Media Policy Center’s documentary series, “Our Kids: Narrowing the Opportunity gap" based on the book "Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis" by Harvard professor Robert Putnam. Before starting work at the Empire, his work as a journalist has focused on three areas: urban planning and infrastructure, education, and the pharmaceutical industry. Before working as a journalist he spent nearly three years living in Hanoi, Vietnam teaching English as a second language to children and adults at various levels. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2011 with a double major in Literature and History with related coursework in Political Science.

Lewis Nelson, M.D., Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital. In August 2016, Dr. Nelson became the inaugural Chair of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, taking the helm from a series of formative and dedicated interim Chairs. He looks forward to sustaining the trajectory of progress that they have initiated and creating the premier academic department of emergency medicine in New Jersey and the region. His area of interests includes prescription drug abuse. Chief Advisor

Andrew Kolodny, M.D., Co-Director of Opioid Policy Research at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and executive director of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP). Dr. Kolodny has been in the trenches of the war against the over-prescription of opioids and was the organizing force behind PROP in 2010. In 2016, the American Medical Association dropped pain as the 5th vital sign, recognizing and adhering to PROP’s findings. In true David and Goliath fashion, PROP continues to uncover the role of “big pharma” in the current opioid crisis. He served as an advisor to the Do No Harm documentary and will play an important role in the companion book as well.