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readingwhilemommying's review against another edition
5.0
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (read by the author)
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alongapath's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this so soon after reading [b:Demon Copperhead|60194162|Demon Copperhead|Barbara Kingsolver|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660050779l/60194162._SY75_.jpg|94935539] was a real one-two punch.
Watching Demon get smothered in the core center of the opioid crisis and then seeing the unfolding of the Sackler's great plan for family fortune in that very same region was the best and worst counter-balance of books I have ever read.
The Sackler family has no soul. The depth of their greed boggles and their lack of ... compassion? humanity? benevolence? decency? is baffling.
While they are spending millions on priceless works of art, their drug patrons are selling themselves for that next addictive hit. While they slap their family name up on buildings, they managed to keep their link to oxycodon hidden.
Forever claiming that their Oxycontin was not addictive and having bought their FDA approval without the required clinical trials, the family had multiple opportunities to stop - or at least curb - the negative impact their drug was having. Keefe goes deep into the family history, the millions spent, the millions impacted and the devastation that grows with each passing day.
The book ended with a pinprick of hope, as the Sackler family faced yet another round of legal bombardment - but sadly their acquittal was announced this week and they have managaed to buy their way out of consequences once again.
I listened to the author's narration, which was fabulous.
Watching Demon get smothered in the core center of the opioid crisis and then seeing the unfolding of the Sackler's great plan for family fortune in that very same region was the best and worst counter-balance of books I have ever read.
The Sackler family has no soul. The depth of their greed boggles and their lack of ... compassion? humanity? benevolence? decency? is baffling.
While they are spending millions on priceless works of art, their drug patrons are selling themselves for that next addictive hit. While they slap their family name up on buildings, they managed to keep their link to oxycodon hidden.
Forever claiming that their Oxycontin was not addictive and having bought their FDA approval without the required clinical trials, the family had multiple opportunities to stop - or at least curb - the negative impact their drug was having. Keefe goes deep into the family history, the millions spent, the millions impacted and the devastation that grows with each passing day.
The book ended with a pinprick of hope, as the Sackler family faced yet another round of legal bombardment - but sadly their acquittal was announced this week and they have managaed to buy their way out of consequences once again.
I listened to the author's narration, which was fabulous.
franklc29's review against another edition
5.0
Horribly tragic ending. The book may, ostensibly, be about the Sackler family but truthfully it is about the ways in which the wealthy are above the law, whether that be the actual laws of countries or the laws of social decency. The moral of this book is that if you have enough money, you can get away with anything and that is what is truly wrong with this world. Capitalism truly is awful and knowing that the Sacklers are getting away with everything is not surprising to me; it is merely a tragic foregone conclusion.
michielmennen's review against another edition
5.0
Painful, but necessary to read. The blatant indifference of the Sackler dynasty to the immense suffering unleashed upon US society is gut wrenching and infuriating, only to be compounded by the realization that they walked away with their billions still intact.
The book builds a very complete and compelling narrative of the inner workings of one of the most secretive billionaire families. Don't fret its length and depth; throughout the story there is plenty to keep you motivated to read on.
Recommended.
The book builds a very complete and compelling narrative of the inner workings of one of the most secretive billionaire families. Don't fret its length and depth; throughout the story there is plenty to keep you motivated to read on.
Recommended.
ashley_kelmore's review against another edition
5.0
Best for:
Those interested in how corporations and the government have failed us. Those who enjoy a little bit of schadenfreude (though, in my opinion, not nearly enough).
In a nutshell:
The Sackler family, obsessed with their reputation and ‘good name,’ help 400,000 people to their deaths via the opioid epidemic.
Why I chose it:
I loved the author’s book ‘Say Nothing’ about The Troubles in Northern Ireland and searched for other work. Saw this was being released in April so ordered it right away.
Review:
What is a name, really? Is philanthropy truly a gift if it comes with so many strings, including the need to have one’s name splashed across all the things? How do we hold accountable the leaders of corporations that cause pain and suffering for millions?
Author Keefe explores all these themes in his excellent book that focuses on the Sackler family, the name behind the billion-dollar pain empire via one of the ventures they chose not to put their name on, Purdue Pharma. If you’re not familiar, Purdue Pharma patented OxiContin, the extraordinarily strong opioid pain reliever introduced in the 1990s.
The book opens with a deposition in the late 2010s, but immediately jumps back to the early 1900s so we can follow three generations of the Sackler family, starting with boys Arthur, Raymund, and Mortimer. Arthur took the lead as the first born to take a bunch of jobs, supporting his family. He and his brothers all went to medical school, and all married (some of them multiple times). Over time Arthur especially starts to build the empire with medical marketing, then the purchase of Purdue Frederick and Purdue Pharma.
Each successive generation seems to be obsessed with putting their names on EVERYTHING. It kind of reminds me of the Trump family - there’s just this deep, almost pathological, need to piss all over the place. I don’t understand obsessions with names and legacy. Maybe it’s because I’m not having kids? To my mind, one’s legacy should be doing good things because they should be done, not because one wants credit and a fancy plaque at the entrance to a museum gallery.
The Sacklers do not ever get what they deserve - though the very last chapter does have a slight sense of comeuppance. They are helped in many ways by the FDA — who should have shut down OxiContin’s claims from the start — but also by the Trump DOJ, who chose not the prosecute the individual family members in addition to the privately owned company. The family made billions off of the addiction of others, essentially creating not just the opioid epidemic but, when they changed the formulation, helping push those individuals on to heroin.
They are evil. And while they do get to sleep on their giant pillows of ill-gotten money, at least one thing is now true: they have completely ruined the name they hold so dear. Museums and universities they donated to have started to strip their name from it (the Louvre, most notably, as well as medical programs at NYU and Tufts), as they don’t want to be associated with such immoral, vile individuals. But it still won’t bring back the lives lost at their hands.
Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Pass to a Friend
Those interested in how corporations and the government have failed us. Those who enjoy a little bit of schadenfreude (though, in my opinion, not nearly enough).
In a nutshell:
The Sackler family, obsessed with their reputation and ‘good name,’ help 400,000 people to their deaths via the opioid epidemic.
Why I chose it:
I loved the author’s book ‘Say Nothing’ about The Troubles in Northern Ireland and searched for other work. Saw this was being released in April so ordered it right away.
Review:
What is a name, really? Is philanthropy truly a gift if it comes with so many strings, including the need to have one’s name splashed across all the things? How do we hold accountable the leaders of corporations that cause pain and suffering for millions?
Author Keefe explores all these themes in his excellent book that focuses on the Sackler family, the name behind the billion-dollar pain empire via one of the ventures they chose not to put their name on, Purdue Pharma. If you’re not familiar, Purdue Pharma patented OxiContin, the extraordinarily strong opioid pain reliever introduced in the 1990s.
The book opens with a deposition in the late 2010s, but immediately jumps back to the early 1900s so we can follow three generations of the Sackler family, starting with boys Arthur, Raymund, and Mortimer. Arthur took the lead as the first born to take a bunch of jobs, supporting his family. He and his brothers all went to medical school, and all married (some of them multiple times). Over time Arthur especially starts to build the empire with medical marketing, then the purchase of Purdue Frederick and Purdue Pharma.
Each successive generation seems to be obsessed with putting their names on EVERYTHING. It kind of reminds me of the Trump family - there’s just this deep, almost pathological, need to piss all over the place. I don’t understand obsessions with names and legacy. Maybe it’s because I’m not having kids? To my mind, one’s legacy should be doing good things because they should be done, not because one wants credit and a fancy plaque at the entrance to a museum gallery.
The Sacklers do not ever get what they deserve - though the very last chapter does have a slight sense of comeuppance. They are helped in many ways by the FDA — who should have shut down OxiContin’s claims from the start — but also by the Trump DOJ, who chose not the prosecute the individual family members in addition to the privately owned company. The family made billions off of the addiction of others, essentially creating not just the opioid epidemic but, when they changed the formulation, helping push those individuals on to heroin.
They are evil. And while they do get to sleep on their giant pillows of ill-gotten money, at least one thing is now true: they have completely ruined the name they hold so dear. Museums and universities they donated to have started to strip their name from it (the Louvre, most notably, as well as medical programs at NYU and Tufts), as they don’t want to be associated with such immoral, vile individuals. But it still won’t bring back the lives lost at their hands.
Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Pass to a Friend
buckshelves's review against another edition
5.0
Props to Keefe. Can’t fathom the number of hours he spent reading in order to report this story.