It seems to me that Steven Soderbergh more or less established the rules for this style of “issues”-based series, but, unlike most of his efforts, or at least the better ones, this tends to make things both too obvious and too simple. As a consequence, the viewer has the feeling that the structure of the episodes is rather repetitive, and that there are few new insights to be gained as it progresses. Also, the attempts at humour are inadequate.

Aduba is fantastic but the rest of it is not that hot. It's just trying too hard.

While it does not quite reach the same levels as Dopesick it essentially adapts the same story. Both used fictional support characters. While Matthew Broderick is the stand out here that ends the list of what Painkiller does better than Dopesick. Painkiller tries to be more satirical and witty while Dopesick pulled no punches. That to me is more effective in telling this heart wrenching story.