Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

23 reviews

ksuazo94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, and Grief

Minor: Medical trauma

matildak28's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

this is an incredible piece of non fiction writing — Patrick Redden Keefe is sharp and reflective, presents the facts through a deeply engaging narrative and I literally couldn’t stop listening - I listened to this non stop over the course of 3 days. This may be one of the most precise, excellent non fiction books I’ve ever read. I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about the opioid crisis in America (I’m from the UK and have no personal connection), and all of them have very limited details about the family — I feel like I have learned a lot despite already knowing a fair deal. 

Quite simply, this is incredible and this writer is nothing short of brilliant. I will be seeking out his other works immediately. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

williamgideon's review against another edition

My libby loan ran out :( but honestly wasn't liking it enough to keep reading

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

elri's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Suicide, and Medical content

Moderate: Chronic illness and Suicide attempt

nassuada's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Forced institutionalization

stephaniezd's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Impeccably researched and compelling in it's telling. Easily the best non-fiction I have read this year. I have already recommended to several people. Jaw-dropping at times in the unabashed ridiculousness that the focuses of the tale engaged in. Just an incredible story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Classism

aegagrus's review against another edition

3.25

Empire of Pain is a smart and thorough chronicle of three generations of the notorious Sackler family. Radden Keefe may write in the dramatized language commonly found in tales of “true crime”, but his credibility is bolstered by the years he’s put into this story and the vast quantity of source material he’s able to cite. His book does many things well. It provides a fascinating case study of the ways in which ill-gotten wealth can change a family over time, altering each generation’s proclivities and character. It effectively demystifies relatively arcane fields like pharmaceutical advertising and bankruptcy law. It doesn’t spare those peripherally implicated in the Sackler saga – well-known political figures from both major parties, doctors, lawyers, consultants, and museum administrators. Most importantly, it elucidates where we stand today, unflinchingly demonstrating the insufficiency of the ways in which the Sacklers have been “held to account”. 

 

For all its thoroughness, Empire of Pain has a fairly narrow focus. Radden Keefe readily admits that his book is not intended to be a broad sociological account of the opioid crisis. At times, this tight focus on the Sacklers leaves the reader with questions. Radden Keefe does a pretty good job separating out the impact of Purdue Pharma from that of other opioid suppliers, citing empirical studies to show the close association between Purdue’s activities and the emergence of the crisis writ large. Purdue was an early and aggressive mover; in ascribing responsibility for the crisis, to start at Purdue is entirely justified. In other instances, though, the centrality of the Sacklers to this narrative may have led Radden Keefe to overstate their centrality – on the birth of medication-based psychiatry, for instance, or even on the ideological battles over how the medical field should approach chronic non-malignant pain (which is not to say that the Sackler’s astroturfing did not have a major impact in this regard). 

 

It is also notable that a full third of the book is spent on the activity of Arthur Sackler, the family patriarch, who was already dead by the time OxyContin was created. The ways in which Arthur shaped the family’s trajectory are certainly relevant, getting the Sacklers started in the worlds of art and philanthropy, passing down an array of corporate structures, and inculcating deeply held ideologies in the succeeding generations. Arthur’s role in creating modern pharmaceutical advertising and his aggressive profiteering off of non-opioid tranquilizers (namely Valium) are also interesting. Nonetheless, too much time is probably spent mythologizing the dynasty’s origins, time which could perhaps have been better spent providing somewhat broader context for later material about the marketing of OxyContin and the ensuing litigation. 

 

Empire of Pain is, all in all, well worth reading. If the reader is seeking to understand the opioid crisis itself, this book is probably not a perfect starting point. If the reader already has some background in the opioid crisis, however, or is primarily interested in a case study of the corrupt abuse of corporate, legal, and political power, Empire of Pain is an excellent choice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Suicide, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail

megang519's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer and Chronic illness

Minor: Suicide, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

kristin_h_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt

maarsargo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Gaslighting