It’s the retreat that opioids built, a 2,500-square-foot ranch on sprawling grounds in the White Mountains with lush year-round views across two states.
And it’s here that Curtis Wright, the man instrumental in lifting the federal ban on Oxycontin, makes his home – ironically in New Hampshire, one of the states hardest hit by the nation’s opioid crisis .
Wright’s role in the drug scandal is back in the spotlight thanks to the hit Netflix series Painkiller, where he was portrayed as one of the main villains that enabled the epidemic by bowing to the wishes of Purdue Pharma, the company that later became a make a fortune from the drug and then pay back $6 billion.
He made the statement while working for the Federal Drug Administration in 1995. He left the agency and a year later accepted a high paying job for Purdue.
The real Curtis Wright doesn’t enjoy having his role in the crisis brought up again.
Former FDA official Curtis Wright, whose role in the opioid epidemic is being assessed thanks to the Netflix show Painkillers, now lives in retirement in Littleton, New Hampshire
His home is modest, but it sits on 5.3 acres with sweeping views of New Hampshire and neighboring Vermont
Wright lives in the 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bath home that he and wife Linda bought for $380,000 in 2017
‘Go away. I’m not talking to the press,” the 73-year-old former senior Federal Drug Administration official barked when approached by a DailyMail.com reporter asking if he thought the series accurately portrayed his role. .
In Painkiller, a fictionalized drama about the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, Wright is played by the show’s co-creator Noah Harpster.
Wright set up a bullseye for target practice in the backyard of his home in Littleton
He is portrayed as a rule-maker who refused to budge when urged to approve the highly addictive opioid for the treatment of moderate and severe pain.
But Wright, overweight and socially awkward, is slowly giving in to Purdue Pharma’s attempts to stroke his ego.
The company gifted him a webcam for his home computer that allowed them to maintain communication with him, and he was then seen holding a secret meeting in a hotel room in a scene that ended with him approving the application.
He is then seen jumping into a pool as cheerleaders waved their pom poms at a Purdue party.
While Painkiller takes some liberties with its fictionalized stories, the series is based on the true story of how Purdue Pharma, founded by the Sackler family, pushed OxyContin into production despite allegedly knowing its dangerous side effects, including addiction.
Today, Wright feels very much at home in his rural retirement of Littleton, New Hampshire, a town of 6,000 right on the Vermont border and only 40 miles from Canada.
He wears a gray beard, American Battlefield Trust baseball cap and overalls and drives a black pickup truck. He left before breakfast on Wednesday and joined a friend for coffee and eggs at a restaurant on Main Street.
Noah Harpster plays Wright in Painkiller. Portrayed as overweight and socially awkward, he is manipulated by Purdue Pharma into paving the way for the legal sale of OxyContiin.
Painkiller is not the first time Wright has appeared on television. Brian Keane played him in the 2001 Hulu series Dopesick
Wright joined Purdue Pharma a year after leaving the FDA, where he paved the way for the legalization of Purdue’s best-selling OxyContin
Today, Wright feels very much at home in his retirement. He was spotted wearing an American Battlefield Trust baseball cap and overalls as he went to breakfast in Littleton, New Hampshire
Picturesque Littleton is a town of 6,000 located right on the border between New Hampshire and Vermont and just 40 miles from Canada
His three-bed, three-bathroom single-story home seems modest for a man who reportedly made $400,000 a year at Big Pharma. Public records show that he and his wife Linda purchased the 2,500-square-foot home in 2017 for $380,000. But Zillow now estimates the value at $725,000.
Locals told DailyMail.com they had no idea the man below them played such a role in the epidemic that has hit New Hampshire hard.
According to a 2019 study by US news and world reportNew Hampshire has been hit harder by the opioid epidemic than any other state except West Virginia. The outlet said it had had 27.2 deaths per 100,000 people over a five-year period.
Painkiller isn’t the first TV show to highlight Wright’s role in the epidemic. In 2021, he appeared in the docudrama Dopesick on Hulu and in the HBO documentary The Crime of the Century.
But he managed to avoid the publicity of his now leading role in the opioid crisis. He lives in a single-storey farm-style home on the outskirts of Littleton, with an expansive lawn overlooking the mountains and a bull’s-eye in the backyard for target practice.
When Wright goes into town, he blends into the environment, an unobtrusive figure who usually keeps to himself. On Wednesday, he parked his Chevy Silverado on Main Street and sauntered down the sidewalk wearing a baseball cap and maroon T-shirt, suspenders pulling his jeans over his bulging belly. He ducked into Littleton Diner to meet another older friend.
The waitress recognized him as a regular, but didn’t know his full name, or anything about his past.