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NEWS & CULTURE

Exposing a $1,900,000,000 Pharma Company

fern | August 7, 2026



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This is the story of a German pharmaceutical company, a billion-dollar opioid business, and a crisis spanning multiple continents.
Is a new opioid crisis looming — one made in Germany?

This video is based on research by “The Examination,” a nonprofit newsroom investigating preventable health risks. Many thanks to the team for their support behind the scenes.

Read the full article here:
https://www.theexamination.org/articl

You can find Tanja Albroscheit’s petition here:
https://www.change.org/p/dr-klaus-rei

Many thanks as well to Maria Christoph from Paper Trail Media. Her in-depth article for the German magazine Spiegel is available here:
https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesel

To better understand the situation in West Africa, make sure to watch this ARTE documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r3E_-O44io

Corrections:
0:01: “Australien” should read “Australia”.

Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oemg0YMbFv4QM5WNVJHGdGOHg64W-d52fyubEhj77xU/edit?usp=sharing

Music list:
Epidemic Sound:
Traitors – Wendel Scherer
Suicidal Drivestyle – Hysics
Half-Time Break – Experia
Devils On The Doorstep 2 – Fredrik Ekström
Hidden Room – Anthony Earls
Mind Your Step – Craft Case
Stop Snitchin’ – Isaac Larson
Inside Light – Jay Varton
I Have a Plan, Mr Norton – Arthur Benson
Zone – Jay Varton
Me vs Me – Jharee
Quell Fear – Jon Björk
All Day – Tilden Parc
One Last Drama – Philip Ayers
We Have to Go Back There – Christian Andersen
Ends Don’t Meet – Kouba
22c – Farrell Wooten
Look to the Sky – Experia
Let This Be a Lesson – Eludent
Stars and Neutrinos – Christian Andersen
After the Fall – Max Anson
Rainy Landscapes – Farrell Wooten
Stormkeeper – Robert Ruth
Anemone – Marten Moses
The Replica – Toby Tranter
People Falling Down – Arthur Benson
Victims & Crimes – Skrya
Adaption – Out To The World
Trace It – Skrya
Cold Sweat – Craft Case
Peace on the Horizon – Krithi
Tension 2 – Fredrik Ekström
Margin of Error – Farrell Wooten
Red Sun Rising – Edward Karl Hanson
In Their Galaxy – Christian Andersen
I’m the Villain – Dream Cave
True Forgiveness – Jon Björk
Villanueva – Vendla
Fall Afoul – Jon Sumner
Tracker – Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen
Secret Admirer – T. Morri
Critical Thinking – Philip Ayers
Enter The Night 5 – Fredrik Ekström
Dark Secrets – Stefan Ekström
The Mole – Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen
The Call of the Wild – Victor Lundberg
Tragic Departure – Atlas Kind
Call On Me (Instrumental Version) – Tape Machines
Finger Roll – Bonkers Beat Club
Danger Ahead – Etienne Roussel

_____
Armchair documentaries, almost weekly

Written by fern

Comments

This post currently has 28 comments.

  1. @sgt_loeraM1A1

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    Guys we’re taking this in Iraq in 2004 when I was there. You could buy it over the counter super cheap! $1.50 for a blister pack of 10 tablets. The locals would buy it for us

  2. @carlosdominguez3108

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    Slight corrections, doctor here. We use tramadol and a whole boatload of opioids all the time. It absolutely is a weak opioid. I get the point with the colloquial use of the word weak, but in a medical sense, that means something. All the opoids are classified based on morphine equivalents. The weak and strong ones refer to how hard they hit the various opioid receptors, which receptors, and the dose needed to reach the same effect. That doesn't mean there isn't ann overdose risk. With all these drugs, addicted patients often come off of them, their tolerance decreases over time as the body reverts to baseline, then they relapse and use the same amount they did as an addict, and they OD.

  3. @Fearmylogic

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    Wait, Tramadol is some kind of weak opioid? I was perscribed that stuff for a pinched sciatic nerve. I stopped taking it because it didn't do shit for the pain. At best, it felt like taking 2 or 3 Asprin Liquid gels. So I stopped getting the perscription filled, and just took Asprin / Tylenol / Alieve for when my hip hurt.

  4. @JesseOdid12

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    Fentanyl is old news as well. It's tranq and other mystery chemicals. Also, that CIA gets their "dark money" from drug trafficking. CIA works with Cartels in the trade. The smaller cartels are targeted for destruction because their not in the CIA circle.
    Walmart and Tyson cargo planes and trucks are how they move shipments around.
    Laura Morets work exposes these things among others. She went missing years ago. It was all so quiet. Please look into her work.
    The compounds, drugs themselves are not the problem minus the additives that are dangerous. It's how they're regulated or not. Banned or not. Then, our Western Society & culture that's the real problem

  5. @sam187_

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    Tramadol is what got me hooked on Opioids. I started at 200-300mg and ended up taking 1200-1600mg every single day. Combing it with Weed put me into a bliss like state. I would also IV OxyContin, Morphine, Heroin. I am now prescribed Suboxone which has got me off Tramadol. I am 10 months clean off every substance excluding Suboxone. Eventually I needed stronger opioids to feel it, I would take 1200mg Tramadol and just feel normal.

  6. @MMoo222

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    9:20 When I accidentally shot myself in the leg. I remember when they loaded my in the ambulance. I was like please give me morphine.they said no we are going to give you fentanyl, but dont worry it's the like the street fentanyl. I laughed cause I've seen the video of the kid being like wtf you're giving what?!? 😂.
    Later, at the hospital they knocked me out and gave ketamine to set my leg back in place. I was damn, I'm having a party tonight. 😅.

  7. @bipo4715

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    Poor man's cocaine??? It's the literal opposite of coke in every way, I'm kinda doubting this claim. I've that name used for Ritalin a million times, I feel like the scriptwriter or their source confused the two.

  8. @Not-l8v

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    Great video, but blaming Grünenthal for West Africa's black market tramadol is a massive stretch. They don't even distribute there, and that crisis is driven by illegal generic manufacturing in China and India. Conflating the two makes for a neat narrative, but poor logic.

  9. @VladPetrov-y7u

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    This video came at such a great moment, just a few days ago I was prescribed tramadol after an injury on a holiday in Spain, alongside an antibiotic and even more painkillers? Decided to ditch that for just some nurofen and the antibiotic, with plenty of Aquarius Limón i was fine

  10. @mememe12395

    August 7, 2026 at 4:38 am

    When I broke my leg in the US in 2024 the orthopedic intern who did my cast wrapped the plaster too tight & it was cutting off my circulation. After 3 days of excruciating pain (it was also January so the cold wasn’t helping). They gave me 2 oxys the first day I broke it & I didn’t need anything until it got set in the cast after a week waiting for an appointment. When I finally got to the ER to get the cast removed the male nurse said I was being a baby, I only needed some tylenol but he was going to have the doctor prescribe me- in his own words- “a non-addictive painkiller” then came back with a script for tramadol. I had never heard of it but a former opiod addict friend of mine (clean for about 15 years) even said it’s not much. The oxys made me sick & I hated them so I didn’t really want much besides the day getting my blood flow back into my leg, but the tramadol hit way harder & put me straight to sleep. I never ended up taking many for the pain because it didn’t seem right that it wasn’t something stronger than oxys. And look here. The more you know

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