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egould1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
4.5
This book (and the audio) were very well done. Although the content itself was very frustrating, the way the information was conveyed started with Arthur Sackler as a child and slowly built so the reader’s understanding grew for how the family got to where they are today.
boo_bee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.75
painful, heartbreaking and infuriating. every time you think the sackler’s must have SURELY hit the ceiling of negligent greed keefe slaps you with another reprehensible example. the lack of humanity will astound you. i almost couldn’t finish it towards the end.
hb_bookworm's review against another edition
5.0
extremely infuriating and extremely well written. eat the fucking rich
minimarcus's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
anuaggarwal's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
From the ages of 8-11, I would hang out at my dad’s office during the summer, doing menial tasks and earning around $5 a day. I remember the most exciting days, not just for me, but for much of the office staff, were those days when someone brought free lunch. I would later understand that these were sales representatives from drug companies buying lunch in order to persuade physicians like my dad to prescribe their medicine. It was shocking to learn that buying lunches such as these in medical offices was a result of an aggressive advertising campaign created by Arthur Sackler, a campaign in which profits for drug companies were prioritized over patient outcomes. My dad is a pain management physician, who prescribes narcotics, so learning about the role that physicians played in peddling false information and overprescribing OxyContin was difficult to read, since I greatly respect him and the patients he has been able to help. Through my conversations with him, I was comforted to hear the perspective of doctors who resisted the seduction of companies like Purdue. My dad had listened to Portenoy (one of the most prominent pain physicians on Purdue’s payroll) advertise OxyContin at conferences and even had a drug rep try to persuade him to prescribe a fentanyl lollipop, supposedly to treat headaches. Yet, despite all these external influences, my dad maintained his skepticism and didn’t prescribe these more potent drugs. As someone entering medical school in a month, this book initially shook my confidence in the medical establishment. If the medication we prescribe is being approved by an FDA funded by drug companies, supported by studies also funded by drug companies, then how can I be certain that I am improving patient outcomes by prescribing certain medications? This is something that I don’t have an answer to, but I believe that learning about the inside of the medical establishment will enable me to engage more critically with it. Greed can chip away at a person’s better judgment, as was the case with the Sacklers and many of the people who supported them in their wrongdoings, but even in the face of great financial incentive, there were many physicians, lawyers, and activists who refused to be swayed and that’s what gives me hope.
meekoh's review against another edition
4.0
4.5★
The medical industry was supposed to be an outlier in the capitalist vortex. A rare sanctuary that did not prioritize corporate interests over patient care. Morally upstanding and highly educated doctors were seen as surely immune to corporate propaganda and financial incentives. In hindsight, it seems like an incredibly naïve mindset.
In the absence of regulatory barriers, market forces will always course correct to the most profitable outcome, codifying future commercial practices. This book documents the downward spiral of the medical industry’s ability to protect patients from being bulldozed by business interests.
It is a record of how a national decade-long prescription epidemic morphed into a heroin epidemic (and on to fentanyl).
It is the reason many Americans do not trust big pharma to develop vaccines.
It is a testament to the low regard with which plutocrats prioritize human life.
The medical industry was supposed to be an outlier in the capitalist vortex. A rare sanctuary that did not prioritize corporate interests over patient care. Morally upstanding and highly educated doctors were seen as surely immune to corporate propaganda and financial incentives. In hindsight, it seems like an incredibly naïve mindset.
In the absence of regulatory barriers, market forces will always course correct to the most profitable outcome, codifying future commercial practices. This book documents the downward spiral of the medical industry’s ability to protect patients from being bulldozed by business interests.
It is a record of how a national decade-long prescription epidemic morphed into a heroin epidemic (and on to fentanyl).
It is the reason many Americans do not trust big pharma to develop vaccines.
It is a testament to the low regard with which plutocrats prioritize human life.
marianka1992's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars without a doubt. Thoroughly researched and painstakingly detailed, a page turner of horrors about the Sackler family and the marketing of oxy contin,
It is a great read but also a cautionary tale and an eye opener about corporate America.
It is a great read but also a cautionary tale and an eye opener about corporate America.
camrobbins's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
5.0
I listened to this audio book on my commute. I started and ended each day angry.