A review by hollydyer328
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

challenging emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

5.0

This was phenomenal, even despite its length. Patrick Radden Keefe uncovers the massively corrupt and greedy history of the Sackler family, who owned and ran the pharmaceutical company that invented OxyContin and played a big hand in the opioid crisis. I certainly learned a lot about the role of opioids and how it led to widespread abuse and addiction, but also the role of the pharmaceutical industry and medical advertising in perpetuating the crisis. There are so many “ick” moments that also make you reflect on the power and influence of wealth in American capitalism, and it shows philanthropy in a new light. This was incredibly well-researched and reported. I’m so impressed with the documents that he was able to get that showed clearly incriminating information. The Afterward and Note on Sources really put it all into perspective and essentially plants him as a character into the Sackler saga. Keefe narrates the audio and I was impressed with his narration; he brought a sense of undercover reporting to the story.
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