Click here to watch the documentary
CNBC’s new investigative documentary, “RiskyRX,” examines the world of alternative funding programs (AFPs) that say they can provide costly medications for serious illnesses at little to no cost to patients. But there’s a catch: all the AFPs featured in CNBC’s story import from overseas, potentially posing a significant danger to patients. Reported by CNBC’s “Fast Money” Anchor Melissa Lee and produced by Senior Investigative Producer Scott Zamost and Investigative Producer Paige Tortorelli, this gripping documentary dives into how these AFPs operate and how patients in the programs may have no choice but to agree to receive their medication from outside the U.S. CNBC uncovers how one of the programs goes as far as to send the patients on vacations to the Caribbean to pick up their drugs, which records show were sometimes sourced through Turkey, a well-known drug counterfeiting hub, according to federal authorities. Lee conducts exclusive interviews with AFP executives who believe they are doing this as a public service for patients, a U.S. Dept of Homeland Security official, a former FDA official speaking out about AFPs for the first time, as well as patient advocacy groups and a pharmaceutical company who says an AFP illegally sourced its medication from abroad. CNBC explores this growing national debate over rising prescription costs, questioning whether the AFPs offer a solution to a fractured healthcare system or, as regulators argue, risk doing more harm than good.
“RiskyRX” is available to watch on CNBC.com.
About CNBC:
CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business content consumed by nearly half a billion people per month across all platforms. The network’s 14 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC’s global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC’s highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.
CNBC also offers content through its vast portfolio of digital offerings, including CNBC.com and CNBC Make It, as well as subscription products such as CNBC+, CNBC PRO, and the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer. CNBC content is also available via mobile apps for iOS and Android devices and Amazon, Google, and Apple voice interfaces.
