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mtstellens's review against another edition
5.0
This book has an excruciating start. So slow, with tangents that seem to go nowhere and have nothing to do with the meat of the book. There are very important pieces of information that set up the rest of the book, the corruption of the FDA, the donations to philanthropic causes, the use of fake doctors to advertise, the branches of the family; but it is buried under a lot of fluff of family affairs and the Sackler interest in Asian Art (though the part about how the Sackers were the ones who helped to fund the temple from Egypt that is at the met is very interesting). PLEASE push through. The rest of the book is so good. It lays out so clearly the history of the opioid crisis and how we got to where we are. It really is pretty much just do to Perdue, and this book lays that out so incredibly well. It also goes after the family behind the company as well. It isn’t just regular corporate greed, I mean it is definitely also that, but Perdue is just the Sacklers. This isn't about a board of investors, this is a family that directly caused other families to suffer all around the country.
This book and the crazy amount of sources that Keefe so perfectly balances between what is going on around the country, what's going on in science and the FDA, and what's going on in the meeting rooms of Perdue, and eventually, what's going on in the courtroom. It is crazy to see a family so far up their own ass , who absolutely cannot comprehend being the villains even though they definitely are. One of the Sacklers ends up being a film director and, you really cannot make this stuff up, directs a film about mass incarceration and then refuses any sort of introspection as to how the war on drugs could have been in any way impacted by her family and the drugs they peddle. Though it is not the perfect ending (take these people to prison please, they should not have their wealth), it was a little gratifying to read about all of their names being taken off of museum wings etc and that they weren't able to make any donations to continue to launder their name.
The parts that discussed how the FDA failed to regulate or really do anything about Oxycontin is crazy to me, but completely predictable. The amount of blatant lies that Perdue used to sell Oxy that went completely unquestioned is so disturbing and should make us want a complete overhaul of this institution. To think that Perdue was allowed to sell Oxy knowing that it was being abused and then to make the FDA retire (so as to not become generic) it “because it was too dangerous” THE DRUG THAT THEY HAD BEEN CLAIMING WAS TOTALLY SAFE FOR YEARS only to then market a ‘safer’ version of that drug that was harder to abuse is appalling. And of course, with the pills harder to get and abuse, the switch to heroin was bound to follow, and it did. It is crazy to think that there was a time that pretty much ALL of the painkillers being abused that came from pill farms were produced and sold by Perdue, there were no street versions, it was just them. This doesn't even get into how the family directly pushed this drug, refused to invest in ‘less lucrative’ diversifications of medicines, the law suits, everything.
Hands down one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read.
This book and the crazy amount of sources that Keefe so perfectly balances between what is going on around the country, what's going on in science and the FDA, and what's going on in the meeting rooms of Perdue, and eventually, what's going on in the courtroom. It is crazy to see a family so far up their own ass , who absolutely cannot comprehend being the villains even though they definitely are. One of the Sacklers ends up being a film director and, you really cannot make this stuff up, directs a film about mass incarceration and then refuses any sort of introspection as to how the war on drugs could have been in any way impacted by her family and the drugs they peddle. Though it is not the perfect ending (take these people to prison please, they should not have their wealth), it was a little gratifying to read about all of their names being taken off of museum wings etc and that they weren't able to make any donations to continue to launder their name.
The parts that discussed how the FDA failed to regulate or really do anything about Oxycontin is crazy to me, but completely predictable. The amount of blatant lies that Perdue used to sell Oxy that went completely unquestioned is so disturbing and should make us want a complete overhaul of this institution. To think that Perdue was allowed to sell Oxy knowing that it was being abused and then to make the FDA retire (so as to not become generic) it “because it was too dangerous” THE DRUG THAT THEY HAD BEEN CLAIMING WAS TOTALLY SAFE FOR YEARS only to then market a ‘safer’ version of that drug that was harder to abuse is appalling. And of course, with the pills harder to get and abuse, the switch to heroin was bound to follow, and it did. It is crazy to think that there was a time that pretty much ALL of the painkillers being abused that came from pill farms were produced and sold by Perdue, there were no street versions, it was just them. This doesn't even get into how the family directly pushed this drug, refused to invest in ‘less lucrative’ diversifications of medicines, the law suits, everything.
Hands down one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read.
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.