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By Kayla Cobb@kaylcobb
Published Feb. 5, 2020, 12:56 p.m. ET
Photo: Netflix
It’s not often that the horrors of a true crime documentary extend past their initial crime. But that’s exactly what happens in Netflix’s latest docuseries, The Pharmacist. Over four hourlong episodes, one grieving father’s investigation into his son’s tragic murder spirals into discovering one of the biggest and deadliest drug rings in New Orleans in the 2000s.
In 1999, Dan Schneider’s son was shot and killed over a drug deal gone wrong. Desperate for answers and hindered by an overworked police force that didn’t have time to fully dive into this case, Schneider took the investigation into his own hands. In the process his search for the truth turned into one of the most remarkable modern-day examples of vigilante heroism. Here are some of the most jaw-dropping moments from this docuseries about a true crime case that transformed into true justice.
1
This explosive deep dive into opioid abuse starts with a murder.
The four-episode docuseries revolves around the amateur detective work of Dan Schneider, a pharmacist from St. Bernard Parish, which is around the New Orleans area. But Schneider would have never started looking into the rampant abuse of painkillers in his hometown if it weren’t for the death of his son and an overworked police force.
In 1999 Schneider’s son Dan was shot and killed while buying drugs in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. Despite pressure from his grieving father, the New Orleans police force largely ignored the case. In response Schneider dedicated his free time to figuring out who exactly murdered his son and how his son became involved in the illegal drug trade in the first place. It wasn’t long before his homespun investigation led him to discovering that the glassy-eyed look his son often had toward the end of his life looked eerily similar to the same look of local opioid abusers.
2
To get to the truth of his son's death, Schneider recorded almost everyone in his life.
Once he discovered his son’s connections to drugs, Schneider started to use his own pharmacy as a sort of home base. As he explains, he would often hide a recorder in his pocket when he was talking to clients, patients, and even friends and family. The Pharmacist is filled with these recordings. They’re often accompanied by the person Schneider is questioning checking that Schneider isn’t recording them. Clearly because of their existence on Netflix, Schneider would lie about his near-constant recording.
3
Most of the major drug users were traced to one person — Dr. Jacqueline Cleggett.
As one fellow doctor incredulously points out, Dr. Cleggett allegedly averaged 70 patients a day. For comparison’s sake a similarly sized office would see about 20 patients on a busy day.
Schneider discovered Cleggett’s office in a rougher part of town that contained pay-by-the-hour hotels. Rather than finding a history of varying prescriptions, Schneider discovered that almost all of Cleggett’s patients were immediately prescribed 40 milligrams of OxyContin. According to the docuseries, one pill is similar to 16 Percocet. Cleggett would also often prescribe Soma and Xanax alongside OxyContin, which is known in druggie circles as the “holy trinity.”
4
It was common for Dr. Cleggett's patients to sell their prescribed pills in her waiting room.
As one regular patient of Cleggett recalls, visits to her office — and to essentially get a guaranteed prescription for Oxy — started at $250. There was also a “stat” fee of $100 patients could pay, which assured Cleggett would get to them in an hour or less.
Some patients stayed in the doctor’s office waiting for their chance to get their semi-legal next hit for up to two days. Because the wait could be so long, it wasn’t uncommon for patients to get their prescription filled then start selling some of their pills from $30 to $80 a piece to other patients in the waiting room. This system allowed dealers to make a ton of money quickly, keep a stash of pills for themselves, and avoid detection from the cops. Though the authorities knew about New Orleans’ opioid problem and suspected Cleggett’s office was involved, it was next to impossible to legally take action against a doctor’s office that appeared to be doing its job.
5
In one year Dr. Cleggett's office deposited over $1.9 million in cash.
Cleggett’s operation is referred to as a “pill mill.” That astronomical deposit for an office in a poverty-stricken part of town was suspicious enough. But it was those numbers in combination with several testimonies from patients’ relatives begging Cleggett to stop treating them and Schneider’s evidence that led to a trial from the Medical Board over her suspension.
6
It was Schneider's personal investigation that ultimately ended the largest pill mill in New Orleans.
Prior to Schneider’s involvement New Orleans authorities knew the city had an opioid problem. Similarly Cleggett’s office, with its countless complaints from the relatives of patients asking her to stop prescribing treatment, was also under a fair amount of attention. But it was Schneider’s dedication to getting to the bottom of the travesty that killed his son that pieced everything together and uncovered the full horrors of Cleggett’s operation. Schneider assisted the Medical Board, DEA, and FBI in getting Cleggett’s medical license revoked.
The former doctor faced 20 years in prison, a 37-count inditement, and up to a $1 million fine. But she never served jail time. After getting her license revoked and declaring bankruptcy, Cleggett was involved in a car accident that caused partial paralysis. She ended up only pleading guilty to one count, but 17 others were arrested for selling her drugs. Little is known about where Cleggett is today.
- documentaries
- Netflix
- The Pharmacist
