ANTAGONIST
A documentary about naltrexone, a critically-underutilized medicine to fight opioid and alcohol addiction
Statement from director Ben Westhoff: I spent years reporting my best-selling book Fentanyl, Inc., investigating how fentanyl became the worst drug epidemic in American history.
But it wasn’t until after the book’s publication that I got the full story on an overlooked-yet-essential treatment medicine: naltrexone.
Naltrexone completely blocks the effects of opioids like fentanyl and heroin, acting as a force field, or a vaccine. One of only three medications approved by the FDA to fight opioid addiction, it’s often called a “wonder drug.” A shot providing a month’s worth of protection is branded as Vivitrol.
Unlike methadone and buprenorphine, the other two FDA approved medications, naltrexone is completely non-addictive. Instead, it’s an opioid blocker that can help users beat addiction permanently. All three medicines are important options for patients, yet many doctors know nothing about naltrexone.
“The discovery of naltrexone should have been a penicillin moment,” says Percy Menzies, president of a highly-regarded St. Louis recovery clinic called ARCA. Instead, it has been mostly neglected — and almost never mentioned in the media — despite having helped thousands of users beat not only opioid addiction, but alcoholism as well.
Why is this?
To answer that question, I am directing a documentary called Antagonist. It will show how junk science and big money interests have helped bury naltrexone at a time when it’s most needed.
Principal filming is almost complete, and the documentary draws upon my years of reporting on the opioid crisis. It follows addicted users in the midst of recovery, and features interviews with Nora Volkow, director of NIDA, former drug czars Jerome Jaffe and Robert DuPont, as well as well-known addiction specialists like Anna Lembke. By interviewing doctors, experts, historians, academics, and addicted users, I will tell the story of naltrexone, with the goal of educating viewers, and ultimately saving lives. The film will be widely available, screening in theaters and on streaming, as well as before people in recovery, behavioral health and medical professionals, parents, veterans, and policy makers.
But I need your help. I am not accepting any money from pharmaceutical companies, and this film is being financed completely independently. To donate to the film please visit the Antagonist GoFundMe page. With your help we can bring this film to the widest number of people, and help addicted users everywhere get the assistance they need.
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-Sincerely, Ben Westhoff
ben.westhoff@gmail.com